Third Time (un)Lucky
by Everyflavourbean24
Summary: Seamus was correct about Hermione Granger - she was too nice. Now she was having to deal with the consequences of helping a drunken Draco Malfoy. Consequences she would have never in her life expected. Post Hogwarts, EWE to some extent.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I wish someone had warned me that writing one fanfic would lead to me having a million ideas for other stories. Please R &R, I love hearing what you have to say. **

Her smile was tired but genuine as Hermione watched Neville disappear behind a crowd of their friends; they all roared with laughter as he reappeared with a large, pink top hat perched precariously on his head. Garish purple letters flashed across the front of the hat: _Congratulations, Prof. Longbottom!_ Neville himself giggled, his cheeks flushed from all the celebratory firewhiskey. Dean Thomas found the hat particularly amusing - so much so his laughter (and, Hermione suspected, his firewhiskey) caused him to start hiccuping.

Hermione gave Dean a sympathetic pat on the back after he winced from a particularly violent hiccup; the motion had cause some of his firewhiskey to jump out of the glass in his hand, spilling onto the large, well used table at which the group sat.

"Stupid hat." He muttered to himself as he tried unsuccessfully to clean up the spill with the sleeve of his jumper. Seamus Finnegan squinted as he drew his own wand and started poking it into the spill in what Hermione assumed was an attempt to vanish it.

"Merlin, Seamus! Stop that or you'll set this place on fire knowing your track record!"

" 'S a good thing I work for The Department of Magical Accidents and 'Tastrophes then, lass. Clean up me messes, no fuss." He said with a smile. Dean fired finger guns at Seamus in agreement.

Seamus gave up trying to clean the spill and instead began making little circles with his wand in it. Hermione left him to it, looking down at her watch to check the time - she needed to be up early the next day in order to begin work on a case concerning a poor wizard who's Wolfsbane potion had failed him and the results had been quite horrid.

 _Don't think of it now,_ Hermione thought to herself, _it will spoil the evening._

"It's nowhere near time for you to leave, little lady!" Harry said from her side, catching her checking the time.

"Little lady? Honestly, Harry!" She smiled at him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "How much have you had to drink, _young sir_?"

"Oh, not that much!" He waved his free hand dismissively, "It's a Friday night and you know I never get a Saturday off, Hermione! Not to mention Neville's just been made Herbology professor now that Sprout has retired. _Retired_! Has it really been so long since we left and that she's retired! She wasn't that old, still had some good years in her, I'd say."

"It's been seven years since you left Hogwarts, Harry and six for me. Sprout had already begun speaking about retiring when I returned to finish my N.E.W.T.S. I think she was just waiting for Neville to finish studying and get enough experience to fill the post.

Hermione watched as he absent mindedly twiddled with a lock of her hair, evidently not listening to a word she was saying. _Not that much to drink, my puffskein_. He laughed suddenly before using the lock of her hair to make a mustache.

"Oi, Potter! Getting a bit friendly with 'Mione's hair, aren't we?"

Harry gave Ron a confused look, blowing the temporary mustache off his top lip. "Potter now, am I?"

"When I'm defending my sister's honour from a scoundrel such as you, then you bet you are! Now back away from the hair, or I'll have to pull the big brother card."

In a fit of playfulness Hermione started rubbing her hair all over Harry. He pulled a face as some of it was flicked into his mouth. Ron's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.

"Looks like it's not you that's the scoundrel, Harry! Maybe I should remove temptation from your path?"

She squeaked as Ron picked her up from her chair and spun her around. He laughed at how flustered the action made her as he sat her back down and went to get himself another firewhiskey. Hermione watched him skip alone to the bar, laughing at his exaggerated movements.

Out of the corner of her eye she caught a flash of blond at the pub's entrance. As discreetly as possible, Hermione watched Draco Malfoy enter the Leaky Cauldron with Blaise Zabini. One or two patrons sneered in his direction, but mostly people ignored him. Draco paid no mind to the sneers and discreetly tried to take up a table in the emptiest corner of the pub. Hermione nearly laughed out loud at the sight of Draco Malfoy trying to not attract attention to himself, especially considering how he had behaved at school. Perhaps he didn't want another _Prophet_ article, she thought to herself. His last public outing, a charity event for the Ministry, resulted in an article claiming all sorts of things - many of which Hermione had found to be utter nonsense. She was fairly confident that he hadn't gone home with all the witches from the Muggle - Worthy Excuse Committee - especially given that the one witch was old enough to be his great grandmother.

Next to her, Harry waved in greeting to Blaise as he walked past them towards the bar.

"Potter. Good to see you haven't come out in those _awful_ auror robes for a change - you should have used those against The Dark Lord; he would have destroyed his own horcruxes just to be rid of the sight of them."

Harry laughed. "Come off it, you git - not every ministry employee needs to wear the fancy, tailored robes you lot in Sports do. Not all of us have to deal with famous quidditch players."

"Aren't you dating a famous quidditch player, Potter? Besides, Granger here works in Creatures and she looks a treat with those pencils skirts of hers." Blaise smiled and gestured at Hermione's outfit.

Hermione had come straight from work to Neville's party. She considered popping home to change but she knew she was flirting with danger if she did - she was so tired she might have just fallen asleep. She tried not to blush at Blaise's words. She wasn't usually one to be flustered by such attention, but a smile like Blaise's would have made her giggly even without the glass of wine she had had since she arrived. She understood how he managed to charm so many female quidditch players when he threw that smile at her.

"You could put in the same effort you know." He continued, "Maybe the Weaslette would be more enthused if you did."

"I don't know if Harry would be able to pull off a pencil skirt, Zabini." Hermione teased. She so rarely had an opportunity to good naturedly rib Harry and Ron; she was certainly not going to pass this one up. She gave Harry a wink. "It's that seeker build, doesn't quite fill things out the same way."

Blaise made an exaggerated gesture of agreement towards Hermione as he gave Harry a teasing smirk. Hermione couldn't help but laugh at the indignant "hrumph" Harry gave as he fixed her with a look of betrayal.

"What's wrong with being built like a seeker?"

"Absolutely nothing, Harry! You know I'm only teasing. Besides, Ginny seems to quite _enjoy_ seekers. There's this one who used to play for Gryffindor that she's particularly _fond_ of."

She gave a suggestive brow lift at her words causing Harry to blush in embarrassment. He turned away to look for Ron muttering that he _would_ look good in a pencil skirt should he ever choose to wear one. Blaise gave her a little wink of triumph which nearly made her choke on the last of her wine. Hermione gave a meek smile and turned to see Ron making his way back to the table through Neville's crowd of well wishers. Neville seemed to have fallen asleep on the hand that was propping up his head, but no one had noticed - they were all playing a very loud drinking game.

Ron managed to muscle his way back to his seat, plopping a firewhiskey in front of Harry and handing Hermione another glass of wine. He had either not seen Zabini or he was trying to ignore him. Hermione suspected it was the latter. While not unkind to his former Slytherin school mates, Ron was never particularly friendly either.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ron, why don't you greet your former school mate?"

Ron turned to Blaise and gave him a curt nod. "Zabini."

"Weasley, how _pleasant_ to see you. I suppose I better be off to get the drinks. Draco will probably be in tears if I don't come back soon." He gestured vaguely in Draco's direction. "Potter, don't forget that I'll be collecting my winnings next week and Weasley… you were a right fool for letting that one go."

Ron scowled as Blaise gave Hermione a devilish wink before continuing his journey to the bar. Ron was muttering about "mutual breakups" as Hermione turned to Harry and gave him a suspicious look.

"What winnings is Zabini talking about, Harry?"

Harry tried to avoid her question by pointing out that Neville's hat was now singing _for he's a jolly good fellow._ Neville had not been woken by the hat's loud but squeaky voice; he was now snoring slightly.

"I can hear that, Harry. I can also see that it's now shooting glitter into the air - it's all over both of us. Did you have another wager against Ginny?"

Harry gave her a startled look. "How… how did you know about that?"

"Brightest witch of my age, remember? Also, you were drunk and miserable last time she caught the snitch. I asked why and you told me. It's awfully devious of you. So very un - Gryffindor. Perhaps the Sorting Hat shouldn't have listened to your house request."

"It was only a joke and it was only that _one_ time." He said looking thoroughly dejected.

"One time? I could have sworn that Zabini mentioned collecting winnings next week. Doesn't Ginny have a match coming up? Tuesday night, I believe?"

She tapped her chin in an exaggerated display of contemplation but couldn't help laughing at the look of panic that was spreading over his features.

"You won't tell her? Oh, Merlin - she'd have me fleeing my own bogeys!"

"Rightly so, Harry James Potter! Now, call off the bet and it's all mum on my side."

"Done."

"And take her to that fancy muggle place with the good breadsticks after the game- she loves that place."

"Done." He said shaking her hand, a naughty grin on his face.

Ron was still muttering about mutual decisions and how it was Zabini who was the fool. Hermione rubbed his arm and told him not to be such a worry-wort.

"He was only teasing, Ronald."

"I know, but I hate that everyone seems to think I'm the bad guy."

She gave him a sympathetic smile. "I don't think that; neither does any of our friends or family. You were _and still are a_ wonderful man. Things just didn't work out the way we had hoped they would. Now, stop fretting over Zabini and enjoy Neville's success!"

He gave her a thankful smile before turning back towards Dean Thomas. Dean seemed to have gotten over his dislike for Neville's hat and had commandeered it for himself. He was now trying to make it shoot glitter at Ron with little success. Hermione gave a tired sigh, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she checked her watch again. She'd give it another hour and head home.

 _Merlin, I'm dreading this case_.

She was about to take a sip of her wine when she thought better of it - she needed to be fresh in the morning and more wine was certainly not going to help that. Nor would it help her if Blaise threw her another of his flirtatious smiles.

* * *

About thirty minutes or so into her final hour at the Leaky Cauldron Hermione was distracted from George's dramatic reenactment of _The Warlock's Hairy Heart_ by the sudden sound of loud, angry scraping. She turned to see a rather livid Blaise standing at his table, exchanging what Hermione could only imagine were some rather angry words with Draco. Her lip reading skills being poor, it looked as if he was telling Draco to "stop deploying the duck". Hermione wanted to laugh at the idea of Draco managing a small duck army, but the look on Blaise's face made her think better of it. Draco, for his part, seemed completely unfazed by Blaise's venom. He simply looked at his friend and muttered something before taking another shot of his firewhiskey.

Whatever he had said pushed Blaise past anger into a fury. Hermione heard a clear "fuck you, Malfoy" before he stormed from the pub. Draco watched him leave, eyes visibly glazed over from too much drink, before downing his firewhiskey. She watched as he walked, stumbling ever so slightly, to the bar and tried to order another drink. He and the barkeep exchanged a few words before Draco sneered at him and turned to leave. A burly looking wizard nodded his head towards Draco's retreating form, a menacing sneer on his face. The small group around him stood and followed Draco's path to the exit.

"Merlin, just one quiet year. That's all I want." Hermione muttered to herself.

There was no mistaking what those wizards intended to do when they cornered Draco outside and she would never forgive herself if she didn't intervene. Hermione could never stand by knowing someone was getting harmed - even if that person was Draco Malfoy _._

"Harry, I'm just going to get some fresh air."

Hermione didn't wait for Harry to acknowledge her before she picked up her bag and threw on her coat, following after Draco and the gang of wizards.

 _Merlin, I hope I won't regret this!_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I have a hectic schedule for the rest of the week and into the beginning of next so I won't be to finish my chapter for Wander, so here's another chapter for this story instead! It was nearly done so I figured why not!**

 **As usual please R &R!**

Hermione paused after she ducked out of the Leaky Cauldron, looking around for Draco. She heard what sounded like a scuffle and took off in the direction from where the noise had come. Rounding a nearby corner into an alleyway, she was greeted by the site of a dishevelled looking Draco squatting against the alley's brick wall as he held his jaw. His hair was in disarray and in the weak light of the alley she could see a somewhat defeated look on his face. She thought it odd that he wasn't even trying to defend himself.

Hermione cleared her throat loudly as one of the wizards drew back a fist. The sound startled the group; Hermione stifled a smirk at how the biggest one looked ready to jump out of his skin. She gave the few wands that were pointed at her a stern look.

"Please put those away; there will be no need for them." Reluctantly wands were lowered and some disappeared back into robes. "Now, is something the matter, gentlemen?"

"Just taking care of some business, miss." Answered a bearded wizard in a gruff voice. There was a slight slur to his words and he seemed to have some trouble focusing on Hermione.

"I think your business here has been resolved." Hermione replied, keeping her voice firm.

"Miss," chimed a short, stocky wizard. He had more hair on his eyebrows than on his head, giving him the appearance of a science fiction villain. "I don't fink you realise who this here git is; who 'is family is. He deserves anything he 'as coming to 'im, the prejudiced wank."

"Oh, I think I'm much more intimately acquainted with this wizard and his family than you might realise."

"Intimately acquainted, eh? Some kind of Death Eater whore, are you?"

"That's Hermione Granger, you imbecile." Draco snorted. His words were slurred as he blurrily tried to focus on the man who had asked the question. Whoever hit him had clearly done a number on him. One of the wizards shoved him with his foot causing him to lose his balance and fall forward with a grunt.

"Please refrain from harming my former schoolmate."

Hermione slipped her hand into her pocket, ready to draw her wand if things got out of hand. She pushed past them to stand as a shield between the wizards and Draco. They all gave her looks of surprise and annoyance. Out the corner of her eye, she noticed some glitter flutter down from her hair. She had the feeling its presence on her being was diminishing her ability to appear intimidating.

"He's a fucking Death Eater!" The wizard with the gruff voice sarled.

" _Former_. All charges against him were dropped given his age and the situation he was in; I'm sure you all followed the trial."

"He still deserves to be on the bad end of a fist. _Pureblood cunt_."

Hermione bristled at the wizard's words. She would not stay here any longer and tolerate such attitudes. With a great deal of effort, and some rather undignified grunting, she pulled Draco to his feet, supporting his weight as he stumbled into her slightly. Glitter from her hair fell onto Draco.

 _Damn George and his theatrics! Ridiculous glitter! I will burn that hat as soon as I get back to the pub!_

Once Draco was sufficiently sure footed, she gave the group a stern look.

"I fought hard and sacrificed a great deal to end blood prejudice. I will ask that you respect me and others who fought in the wars enough to not continue with such attitudes.'"

"But - "

"No 'buts'! I refuse to let these attitudes prevail! Pureblood or not - no one deserves to be acted upon negatively because of their birth! I know how horrible that feels and I will not allow it to happen to anyone else!"

Hermione struggled slightly under Draco's weight as he leant against her, the smell of firewhiskey burning her nostrils. Out the corner of her eye she could see him trying to concentrate on her face. He opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off, fearing he would say something that would escalate the situation.

"You're so pret-"

"Now, are we quite done here gentlemen or will I have to call an MLE officer?"

If Draco had been offended by her interruption he didn't show it. He simply blinked at her and let his head fall to her shoulder.

The group of wizards mumbled to themselves as Hermione shot each a quelling look. She caught several insults that were clearly directed at her but ignored them. After what felt like ages they all shuffled out of the alley, throwing a few murderous glances back at Draco. He gave them a drunken smile and waved them around the corner.

Once they disappeared Hermione let out a sigh of relief. She heard Draco mutter something and winced at the smell of alcohol on his breath.

"Merlin, Malfoy! You reek of firewhiskey. Come on, let's get you back to the pub. I'll call Blaise to come and collect you."

Draco snorted as they took off haphazardly back towards the Leaky Cauldron's entrance; his head lolled on her shoulder until he adjusted himself into what he evidently thought was a comfortable position. Draco was making it rather difficult for Hermione to walk with his drink fuelled stumbling.

"Zabini won't come; no one will. Pissed 'em all off."

Hermione rolled her eyes. _Damn git! Can't even be nice to your friends; now I'm stuck with you._

"Fine. I'll get you back into the floo but after that you're on your own."

They eventually managed to stumble round the corner. Draco was nuzzling his face in the nook of Hermione's neck mumbling about how she smelt nice, like pub and roses. Hermione rolled her eyes and looked down at the wizard. She could see a bruise starting to form on the edge of his jaw.

"The first complement I get from you and you tell me I smell like pub. Wonderful."

"And roses. Like the one's my mum used to grow before Dick Lord set them on fire. She loved those roses."

There was a bitter sadness in his voice that made Hermione feel slightly sorry for him. She lifted her eyes away from the drunken wizard to the space before them, hoping to spot and avoid any opportunities for Draco to fall. She was blinded by an all too familiar flash. Hermione sighed at the sound of the pop that followed.

 _Merlin, just what I need! Another Skeeter article!_

"That'll be a juicy front page shot!" She heard Harry call from somewhere in front of her; she couldn't quite see where he was - there were little spots from the brightness of the flash dancing across her vision. "Hermione, want to explain why it looks like Draco Malfoy is having a good time with your neck?"

Draco lifted his head at the sound of Harry's voice, turning it in his general direction.

"Pottah!" He said in a startlingly accurate impression of their old potions professor. He pointed menacingly at the space next to Harry. Harry looked at the space, confused when there was nothing next to him. Hermione sighed.

"Come to lose at quidditch? Remember, I _always_ get the snitch. _And_ the girl."

Harry tilted his head in amusement. While Hermione knew that neither of them would ever be friends, their heated rivalry seemed to have dulled given that they were no longer in close proximity to each other. However, she didn't doubt for a second that, should the opportunity arise, they wouldn't hesitate to throw a few hexes at each other for old times sake. Harry certainly wouldn't let Draco live this down should he ever see him in the future. She had a feeling she wouldn't either.

"He _is not_ having a good time with my neck! A bunch of wizards tried to bloody well beat him up and I stopped them but they got a good shot in by the look of it - that and the firewhiskey don't seem to have mixed well."

"Evident-"

"Oi!" Hermione and Harry turned to see Ron stumble from the pub's entrance. "Bloody hell, Harry! Get in here. Fight's started - Neville tried to punch some git that called 'Mione a Death Eater whore and - "

Ron stopped his description of events when he saw Draco slung against Hermione. He threw a quizzical between his two best friends. He gave a look of disgust as Malfoy rolled his head back into the crook of Hermione's neck. She was getting annoyed that no one seemed to be interested in taking the drunken wizard off her hands.

"Mione? Why is Draco Malfoy having a good time with your neck?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Godric, Ron! Those wizards inside tried to beat him up. I intervened, hence the fact that I'm now apparently a Death Eater's whore. MALFOY! _Leave my neck alone, please!_ "

Hermione took her left hand and pressed Draco's face away from where he had started sniffing at her neck. He muttered something about her being rude before returning his focus to Harry. He squinted at his former rival and snorted.

"What's he even see in you, Potter? You're all limbs and wild hair."

Harry gave a confused looked. Ron looked Harry up and down, apparently judging just how much of Harry was limbs and wild hair.

"Who are you talking about, Malfoy?"

Before Draco could answer, Seamus stumbled from the pub, his legs flailing around wildly. Ron caught him, struggling to hold on as Seamus' legs flung themselves around haphazardly.

"Yeh better get in there, lads! Things are getting a bit oot o' hand - they'll be needed some law enforcement soon enough." He paused when he noticed Hermione, her hand still firmly planted over Draco's face. He was now sniffing at her palm. "Wot are you doing with tha' in, Hermione?"

"He was attacked in an alley and I wasn't just going to leave him there."

"Yer too kind, Hermio -"

His assessment of her was cut short when one of his legs kicked Ron's out from under him, causing them both to tumble back into the pub. Hermione gave Harry a pleading look; Draco was getting heavy.

"Seamus is right; you are too nice - especially since it's that twitchy little ferret you're being nice to. Just get him to call one of his elves and they can take care of him."

He looked into the pub at the sound of a small bang. A stray spell whizzed over his head and into the wall across from him. Hair began growing out the wall where the spell had hit.

"I have to get in there. Once he's gone, you should head home, I don't know how long it will take to sort out this mess - someone's just jinxed the furniture to jump into the fray."

Hermione just nodded as Harry gave her a wave and disappeared into the pub. Hermione shuffled Draco to a wall that was not growing hair and leant him against it. He immediately slipped down onto the floor, rolling his head up to look at Hermione.

"Call your elf, Malfoy."

"She's not here. Parents took her and theirs on holiday to France. We only have three left after you and spew had your way."

'It's S - P - E - W, not spew!"

"Same thing."

He gave Hermione a smirk that made Hermione roll her eyes. She sighed as he took out his wand and started twirling it in his fingers before stuffing it back in his robes. He was certainly in no state to get himself home, he would splinch himself if he apparated.

"Are you sure that there's no one to come get you?"

Draco shook his head despondently. Hermione sighed, resigning herself to the fact that she would have to help him.

"I'm going to have to take you home then. I'll drop you outside the manor and you can find your way from there."

Draco got to his feet with some effort, leaning heavily against the wall behind him. Hermione reached for him so she could apparate him home, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her against him as if they were dancing. She let out a little yelp of surprise which quickly turned to a growl of annoyance as his hand slipped down to her backside. She swatted it away.

 _Thank Merlin that photographer wasn't here for this._

He gave her a lazy smirk to which Hermione replied with a stoney faced head shake. With a sigh of exasperation she told him to hold on. He gave her a naughty smile, pulling her tight against him. She rolled her eyes and pushed herself away from him.

"You're lucky that photographer left. I don't even want to know how much worse the headlines would be if he snapped this."

He shrugged, poking at the glitter in her hair.

"At the rate they suggest I get around, I'm surprised that we haven't been featured yet."

"Well, we will be tomorrow."

They disappeared with a pop.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I've managed to squeeze this chapter in between my daily goings on, yay! Hope you like it. I have the next few chapters plotted but still need to get them down, so my updating next week probably won't be as frequent. Enjoy and have a good weekend; I'll see you next week!**

"Malfoy! _Get up_! I'm not strong enough... to hold... you... anymore!"

Hermione huffed in frustration as Draco lent back onto her, nearly causing them to fall over. Eventually, after many a colourful word having been expressed on her part, he managed to stay on his feet. Hermione had very quickly realised that Draco would not be able to get into the manor on his own; he had promptly toppled over when they had appeared, pulling them into the neatly shaped bushes surrounding the manor's large, wrought iron entrance gates. Hermione had shrieked indignantly as she tried to untangle herself from the mess of limbs and branches. Draco had laughed - as only the inebriated can - the entire time. He had found it particularly amusing when he noticed all the twigs tangled in her hair; combined with the glitter she looked like a bad rendition of a muggle fairy.

Hermione reached to open the gates but stumbled as she felt Draco's unconscious weight suddenly come down on her. Hermione winced as she felt the hard cobblestones of the path come into contact with her back. Her head, mercifully, had been cushioned in the fall by a small bed of flowers that bordered the bushes.

"REALLY! _This_ is when you choose to pass out?" She growled angrily as she tried to shove him off her. She should have known apparating and alcohol would not mix well.

Draco wouldn't budge. With a sigh, she eventually gave up trying to push him off of her. After some maneuvering - to which Hermione was infinitely glad Draco was not conscious to be party to - she slid from underneath his weight and pulled herself up into a seated position. Smoothing a stray curl from her face, Hermione looked down at the sleeping wizard and sighed; he had begun to snore ever so slightly.

 _Merlin, Seamus was right - I am far too nice._

As she rummaged for her wand Draco gave a little snort and rolled onto his side. Hermione looked through the gate at the manor, her jaw tightening. Now that she didn't have a drunken Draco to focus on, the full realization of having to go near the manor hit her. She paused and closed her eyes, steeling herself. It had been years since she was last in the building, but she would occasionally still have nightmares about the time she had spent there.

She pushed the memories out of her mind and flicked her wand over Draco as she stood, causing him to levitate. She released a deep breath as she took a step towards the gate, her hand hovering over the metal.

 _You'll be fine. That was all in the past. There is no one here that can hurt you now_.

She willed her hand down, but it didn't budge. Hermione felt a shiver run up her spine. She knew she shouldn't be afraid of a building. She had experienced far more terrifying things in her life, a building should hardly be a problem.

But it was.

 _Don't do this to yourself. It's not worth it. You've been through enough and don't need to go through more just for Malfoy._

She looked at Draco and sighed. She couldn't just leave him at the gates, the manor was in the middle of the countryside. If something happened to him, no one would know for quite some time. She pulled her hand close to her chest, feeling a twinge of guilt at her lack of Gryffindor bravery.

 _No, Hermione. Don't feel guilty - the war is over. You're allowed to feel this._

There was only one thing left to do. She placed her hand on Draco's chest and they disappeared with an echoing crack.

* * *

Hermione dumped Draco onto her couch before conjuring a pillow and stuffing it under his head. She muttered a healing spell over the bruised area on his face, watching as his skin returned to its usual pale colour. She would probably regret this in the morning; she highly doubted he would be grateful waking up in her small cottage.

 _Perhaps it would have been easier just to dump him at his front door and made a run for it._

She sighed and flicked off her work heels. After taking off her coat she flicked her wand at her discarded clothing, sending them to their designated homes. She winced slightly at the messy piles of books and notes that were dotted around the lounge and dining area before realizing that she had no reason to care what Draco thought of her home. He would probably wake up and leave long before she woke the next day.

She stepped into her room and smiled at the sight of her bed, summoning an over-sized shirt and some sleeping shorts to wear as pajamas. The shirt was an old, faded Chudley Cannons team shirt she had nicked from Ron. She pulled off her work clothes and lay them over the chair in the corner before slipping into the shirt and shorts. She decided she would shower in the morning, feeling too spent to stay away from her bed for a moment longer. She quickly flicked her wand over her hair to vanish any remaining twigs and dropped it next to her bed. A content sigh escaped her as she felt the familiar softness of her bed surrounding her. It wasn't long before she drifted off.

* * *

"Granger?"

Hermione's eyes fluttered open at the sound of her name. She let out a small shriek when the face of Draco Malfoy came into focus. It was much too close to hers. In the dim light of the room she could just see that his eyes were still glazed over from drink. He certainly still smelt like a pub.

"Budge up."

She let out indignant sounds of protest as he pushed her over in the bed causing her to get tangled in the sheet.

" _Malfoy!_ What are y-"

He cut her off with a finger pressed against her lips. "Shhshshshsh."

"Don't you shush me!" she huffed as she slapped his finger away. "What do you think you're doing getting into my bed, Malfoy?"

"Couch was uncomfortable." He answered simply before throwing an arm over her and pulling her closer.

Hermione tried to squirm free but was unable to extricate herself from the tangled sheet. She was really starting to regret her decision not to enter the manor now that she realized just how handsy Draco was when he was drunk. It would have probably - no, definitely - been less trouble to have left him at the manor. She winced as the smell of firewhiskey invaded her senses.

"Merlin but you smell like a brewery, Mal… _watch where that hand is going_!"

Draco had slid his hand down her back on a clear path to her continued to wiggle towards her freedom, the sheets slowly coming untangled.

"Don't be such a bore, Granger, it's just a cuddle. No one needs to know. Salazar, I probably won't even remember this in the morning."

Draco chuckled to himself. Hermione finally broke free from the sheets and skittered backwards off the bed. She flicked her hair from her face and fixed Draco with a murderous glare. She watched as his eyes slowly began to droop before he fell asleep again. She wanted to strangle him. Hermione ripped a pillow out from under him causing him to grunt in his sleep.

"You're lucky it's easier to just let you stay here. Merlin, if I weren't so tired right now..." She knew it was an empty threat, with nothing to add past what she had muttered. She was tired, and moving Draco again, even if it was just to the couch, would be too much effort.

Hermione looked down at the sleeping wizard, surprised at how peaceful - even handsome - he looked in his sleep. She made a small gesture of strangling an imaginary neck in front of her, muttering murder as she did so. Stalking to the couch, she pulled a blanket off her reading chair and got as comfortable as she could. Annoyed, she noticed that Draco had flung his coat over the coffee table. She closed her eyes, choosing to ignore it; right now she needed to sleep, not tidy.

"Godric, but this couch is uncomfortable."

* * *

As was the case every Saturday morning, Hermione's eyes fluttered open before her alarm was due to go off. She had, on Ginny's insistence, set it to eight o'clock rather than her usual week day six, adamant that a good lie in was necessary for Hermione to maintain her sanity. Hermione didn't really see the point because she still woke up around six anyway, half past at the latest. Today, however, she was surprised to see, there were only a few moments till she was due to hear its loud beeping. She sighed at the lounge clock, pulling herself stiffly into a seated position.

Hermione folded her blanket and placed it back in its usual home. She was just folding Draco's cloak when she heard her alarm start to beep loudly.

 _Better turn that off. Sleeping dragons and what not._

She placed the cloak on the coffee table once more and turned to the sound of a near bellow coming from her room. She smirked in satisfaction as she opened the door to find Draco swearing angrily at the alarm clock. He smacked at it a few times, evidently unsure how to switch it off, hoping this particular method would be effective. Hermione observed him, smirking at how her alarm clock seemed to be getting revenge for the previous night on her behalf. Evidently at some point after she had left the room he had removed most of his clothing - his pants were tangled in the sheets at the bottom of the bed while his grey oxford was thrown over her bedside table .

"Hit the little blue button on the side."

The beeping ceased as Draco found the button. Without glancing in her direction, he sunk back down into the bed, groaning and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Where the fuck am I? And what the fuck was that infernal beeping for?"

"You're in my bed. You tried to climb in and cuddle me after I brought you here in your drunken state."

A smirk crossed his face as he kept his eyes closed. Hermione suspected that he hadn't realized exactly whose bed he was in; he certainly wasn't behaving like he had.

"And was I successful in my att-" Draco pulled himself up into a seated position, his smirk rapidly disappearing as he opened his eyes onto Hermione. "Fuck."

"Something the matter, Malfoy? Not so happy about cuddling now that you realized it was with little old me?"

"I'm more unhappy about having tried my luck with someone wearing a _Canon's_ shirt." He gave the shirt a look of annoyed Hermione more than she cared to admit.

"It's not mine; I'm not even that interested of quidditch!"

"Evidently." He said as he pulled himself up off the bed. Hermione caught herself eyeing his muscular back. She looked away quickly as her turned to face her. "No one who actually knows anything about quidditch would wear a Canon's shirt.'

"This shirt belonged to Ron."

He made a gesture that suggested she was proving his point. Hermione rolled her eyes, throwing her hands up in frustration. She turned to leave; she needed coffee to if she was to deal with him and not have it end in murder.

"Why did you bring me here and not the manor?"

She looked at Draco over her shoulder. Merlin, she couldn't tell him the truth - he would latch on to her weakness and use it against her mercilessly. She needed to think of a plausible lie.

"I w-"

Hermione's eyes widened as the sound of someone apparating came from the lounge area. She pointed at Draco and motioned for him to keep quiet. He shrugged and disappeared into her little en suite. She scowled at his retreating back before turning on her heel to deal with her unexpected visitor.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This is a bit of a short one, but I hope you like it nonetheless. As always, please R &R - love hearing your views. Just a note on Teddy: I decided to make it that his abilities, while natural do need some mastery. Tonks was old enough to do it as she pleased, as often as she pleased. I just feel that even though he would be able to do it naturally, he's still a child and if he wasn't paying attention or was over excited he wouldn't get things 100% right.**

"Ginny! What are you doing here so early? Is something wrong?"

Hermione poked her head round her bedroom door and into the lounge. She heard the sound of her shower starting up and it took every ounce of her self control not to turn round and hex Draco. _The utter audacity of it_ , she thought as she stepped out of her bedroom to face a flustered looking Ginny.

"No, nothing's wrong. Well, except for the fact that you're wearing that shirt." Hermione rolled her eyes at Ginny's look of play revolt. "I actually came here to ask a favour. Harry has Teddy today but he's been called in for the morning. Even though it's his _off day_ \- not that they seem to care in his department! Anyway! I have practice in thirty and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind watching Ted till I'm done. I'm sorry I didn't get hold of you before I came round, but it's been such a rush this morning!"

"Of course you can bring him round, Ginny! You know I love having him over!"

"Thanks, Hermione! I was hoping you'd be able to take him. The last time Ron looked after him it was a nightmare; I was cleaning Wheezes out of the house for days." She paused, noticing the sound of the shower going. "Is someone here?"

Hermione gave a nervous laugh, "Just you and me. I was about to hop in the shower when you arrived. Now, why don't you go fetch Teddy and bring him here; it won't do for you to be late for work - especially with Tuesday's game looming large!"

"Great! See you in a bit!"

Hermione gave the red haired witch one last smile before she disappeared with a pop. Her smile vanished as soon as Ginny was no longer in the room. Hermione spun round, stalking to her en suite, trying but failing not to get too worked up by Draco's utter cheek.

 _Using my shower! How dare he! Hasn't so much as looked at me for years and then he thinks_ _this_ _is acceptable?_

"MALFOY! What do you think you're doing?"

He stuck his head out the shower, shampoo lather dripping down his neck. Much to her dismay, Hermione had to fight to stop her eyes from following the trickle's downward path. He seemed confused by the look of annoyed disbelief she was giving him, as if what was occurring was the most normal thing in the world.

"I'm having a shower, Granger. Surely that was obvious from the water running, the shampoo in my hair… my state of undress." He gestured down, leaning so his torso was just visible. Hermione looked away, shaking her head in frustration. This seemed to amuse Draco. "I would have asked you to join, but you were busy with what sounded like the Weaslette."

Hermione ignored his last comment and pushed forward.

"Why are you in _my_ shower? Surely you could do all of this at home?"

The sound of Ginny returning with Teddy prevented him from answering. She gave him an aggressive gesture to say silent, spinning on her heel to intercept Ginny before she came into the room.

"'Aunt Hermione!" Came Teddy's excited calls. When he saw her he dropped his little bag and ran to her open arms. Hermione pulled him tight and gave him a kiss on his nose. Teddy screwed it up in distaste but she knew he secretly enjoyed it.

"How's my favourite little wizard?"

"I'm not little anymore!"

"I know, Teddy! You've gotten so big that I'm going to have to order you to stop growing; right this instant! Soon you'll be the one picking me up!"

Teddy giggled and screwed up his nose as he concentrated on changing his hair to a short mane of curly brown. Hermione laughed jovially and ruffled his locks. Ginny smiled as she unpacked his things on the coffee table.

"He's getting better at changing his hair - still has trouble sometimes when he isn't concentrating properly, especially when he tries to change between styles and colours. He wound up with floor length, shocking pink last week. It was so much fun to braid."

Hermione smiled at the image of Teddy with elaborately braided hair. "So why did Harry have to go in today, Gin?"

"Oh, he had to help with some reports on a fight at The Leaky Cauldron. Apparently Malfoy started it, or something to that effect - I wasn't really listening to the details. Someone implied you two were lovers, I think?" Hermione's heart skipped a beat when Ginny lifted Draco's cloak from the coffee table and gave it a quizzical look. "I mean, as if you would ever touch that twitchy little ferret."

"Oh, I don't know, Weaslette. She might just _surprise_ you."

Hermione's stomach felt as if it had dropped out of her body at the sound of his casual drawl. She closed her eyes and took a bracing breath before turning to face Draco as he exited her room. She nearly died of embarrassment when she realised he was only wearing her towel, his hair still damp from the shower. He gave them both a smirk and headed towards the kitchen as if it was perfectly normal for him to be there.

Teddy giggled and (much to Hermione's dismay) changed his hair to match Draco's; he only managed a colour change, leaving him with a curly mop of white blonde hair. Ginny gave Draco a revolted look and dropped the cloak in her hands as if it was cursed. Draco, himself, continued as if nothing was amiss, ferreting around in Hermione's cupboards. The casual arrogance with which he moved around her home made her want to hex him. If Teddy wasn't in her arms she might just have done it, with his own wand to boot.

"Hermione? "

Hermione put down Teddy and suggested he get out his colouring things. She winced slightly as he skittered off, his hair still bright, white blonde.

"Well, first let me say that despite Malfoy's best efforts to make it look like it," she shot him a venomous glare, "we are _not_ lovers. He was less than capable of getting home last night, so I brought him here. Evidently, this is how he repays my kindness: by using my amenities and embarrassing me in front of my friend."

"Right." Ginny said slowly, skepticism tinging her reply.

"Ginny… it's Malfoy, please believe me when I say that nothing happened. It's just that I…"

Hermione looked to Draco, he was now occupied with the contents of her fridge; sniffing and turning his nose up at things. She pulled Ginny into her room before continuing.

"He said there wasn't anyone to help him, so I took him home. Ginny, I couldn't do it. I took him to the manor but I couldn't do it. I didn't even get past the gates. I.. I just…"

She couldn't admit that she had failed. Hermione hated that she had been beaten by fear of a building; _a building_.

"No, don't you dare, Hermione Jean Granger! I know you and you're thinking that you should some how be ashamed of not wanting to go into that place," Ginny pulled Hermione into a bone crushing hug, "but you shouldn't."

Hermione smiled at her friend as the witch let her go.

"You're far too nice, you know. If it were me, I would have just left him at the gates. See how he feels with a hangover and a sore back - maybe then he won't get so drunk he can't get home."

Hermione raised her eyebrow at the witch.

"Do I need to remind you about our last girls night, Ginerva Weasley? As I recall you ended up sleeping at Luna because after a while you were too embarrassed to let Harry see you in such a state."

"Please don't ever remind me about that night again. Merlin, I can't believe those letters I sent Harry. Why didn't you hide Luna's owl - whatsits name… Niffles?"

"I did. It didn't help much, you just used the floo after that."

Ginny's ears turned a light pink at the memory of her drunken behaviour. "Right, well. Enough of that. I'd best be off. Good luck dealing with the ferret. If, for whatever reason, this morning ends in murder you can hide out with Charlie till everything blows over."

Hermione laughed at Ginny's joke but stopped her before she left the room. "Ginny, you believe me when I say nothing happened, don't you?"

Ginny hesitated a bit too long for Hermione's like before answering.

"Of course I do. And don't worry about asking me not to tell anyone. Even I know that this is one of those things we don't talk to Harry or Ron about."

She exited the room and kissed Teddy on the head as he continued to draw. Ginny tried not to smile at what he was drawing but failed. She wished she would be there for when he gave it to her friend. She turned to Hermione and smiled.

"I'll see you in around two hours? I could be a little longer depending on Grettle's mood." She turned to Draco. "Cheers, Malfoy."

Hermione was slightly surprised at how civil Ginny's goodbye was, but she realized the witch must be being keeping the insults to a minimum on account of Teddy's presence. Ginny gave her one last sympathetic smile before she disappeared from Hermione's lounge.

Hermione felt like all her strength to deal with the wizard in the kitchen left with her.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: You guys! Four chapters in and we've crossed the 100 followers mark. *blushes* As a thank you, here's the next chapter a little earlier than I had originally planned. I'm having fun writing this one and I'm glad you guys are enjoying it. As always, please R &R, I love hearing your thoughts.**

"What are you drawing there, Teddy?"

"Surprise."

Hermione was hoping she could distract herself with Teddy till Draco left. Teddy, however, seemed to have different ideas as he shuffled away from her attempt to see his artwork. She turned to see Draco eating her last muffin as he walked towards her room. In her annoyance she forgot her company and swore at Draco.

"That's my last bloody muffin, Malfoy!"

Teddy gasped before giggling at Hermione's use of what his grandmother had deemed a "bad word." Draco stopped midway through a bite, raising his eyebrows.

" _Language_ , Granger! There's a child present."

He shook his head disapprovingly, winking at a still giggling Teddy, before disappearing into her room. Hermione closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose as she sighed. Never in her life would she have expected to be in this situation. Draco Malfoy walking around her house in a towel, eating her food. Eating the last of her _favourite_ muffins from the small bakery in her village. _Well_ , she thought to herself, _lesson learnt_. Next time she was presented with a drunken Slytherin she would just keep walking. She knew herself well enough to know that should the situation arise it would most likely not be the case but for the time being she would try convince herself otherwise. Hermione turned her attention back to Harry's godson who was ferreting around in his colouring materials. He smiled triumphantly when he found a bright red pencil.

"Teddy, have you eaten?"

Teddy simply nodded, too focused on his drawing to answer. Hermione went to the kitchen and started the kettle in order to make herself a cup of coffee. While the kettle boiled she grabbed her files on the werewolf case and put them on the kitchen table, returning to prepare her coffee once the kettle was done. She made sure that Teddy didn't need anything else before settling down with her paperwork. She would have to complete her morning routine after Draco had left and didn't see the point in wasting her time until that point in time.

Draco returned, fully dressed, and looked around for his cloak before spotting it where Ginny had dropped it earlier. He gave it a tentative sniff, cringing at the smell.

"Merlin, this smells awful."

"I won't disagree on that point." Hermione replied without looking up from the piece on Wolfsbane potion she was reading. "Your _aroma_ did make things difficult last night."

"What kind of _things_ , Granger?"

Hermione could hear the smirk on his face. "Well, as I recall, you kept burying your face in my neck and sniffing it; there was some similar behaviour concerning the palm of my hand, too. You also tried to _cuddle_. Didn't have you pegged for a cuddler, Malfoy. Did you cuddle all those witches from the Muggle Excuse Committee? You know, the ones the _Prophet_ reported on a while back."

"Not all of them, Granger. That Bernice Fernsby is pretty _feisty_ for a witch of her age." He replied with amusement.

Hermione couldn't fight the smile that tugged at the corner of her mouth as she made some her notes. It turned out Draco Malfoy was quite amusing when he wasn't a drunken mess - or a bigoted bully. She reached out to turn the page of the book she was reading, but before she could complete the action it was taken off the table.

"Malfoy, I'm using that!"

"I can see, but what for? This is hardly a definitive text in advanced potion making."

Hermione grabbed the book back from him with a huff. "Well, it's one of the only texts I could find in the Ministry library before I had to leave work yesterday, and if you must know, I'm doing some research into Wolfsbane potions for a case that I'm working on."

"That incident that was in the papers? With the werewolf who attacked his family?"

"Yes. I'm the Creatures Liaison Officer that for the case. There's a potions expert that has been assigned to the case but I thought I would do some of my own research. We need to establish if any of his potions failed or if he was at fault for what happened."

"Who's been assigned?"

"Alex Birdwhistle."

"Birdwhistle… Birdwhistle… tall bloke? Blonde; thinks he can pull off a goatee?" Hermione nodded at his description - Birdwhistle really did look ridiculous with a goatee but Hermione never had the nerve to tell him that. "He's not even a potion master of the first class and he's working on a case concerning Wolfsbane? Good luck with that, Granger."

He plopped the book back in front of her, as she scowled at him. Draco didn't even have a job, and he felt it acceptable to be critical of someone who worked hard at his? Well, that would not do. Hermione opened her mouth to defend her colleague but was interrupted by the gleeful shout of Teddy!

"Done!"

He skipped over to the table and deposited his completed drawing in front of Hermione. Before she could turn to look at it, Draco burst out laughing. Hermione frowned and turned towards the picture, eyes widening at the sight of Teddy's version of her and Draco. They were holding hands, a giant red heart drawn above them. Little XO's were floating between them. Teddy was giving his drawing a proud look of accomplishment and she couldn't bear to hurt the boy's feelings.

"Teddy, this is uh… lovely, but why did you draw us like this?"

"Because you're boyfriend and girlfriend?" He spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Like Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny. She sleeps over at Uncle Harry but he told me I can't have a girl over till I'm eighteen. I don't think I'd ever want a girl to sleep over."

Teddy pulled up his nose at the idea of girls and Draco laughed even harder. Hermione turned to him and punched him on the arm in an attempt to stifle his laughter. It did not work.

"We aren't boyfriend and girlfriend, Teddy."

The young wizard gave Hermione a confused look.

"But then why did Uncle Malfoy sleep over? Uncle Harry says boyfriends and girlfriends should only sleep over when they are ready to show they love each other."

Hermione wanted the ground to swallow her whole. Teddy's confused expression remained firmly in place while he waited for an explanation. Draco wiped a tear from his cheek and composed himself before asking Teddy how he knew his name.

"That's my last bloody muffin, Malfoy!" He replied in imitation of Hermione.

Although grateful for the distraction from the "boyfriend/girlfriend" conversation, she buried her face in her hands to hide her embarrassment. Andromeda would hex her if she found out Teddy had learnt to swear from her. Hermione watched through her fingers as Draco moved around her and knelt down in front of Teddy.

"Listen, Teddy, is it?" He continued after Teddy nodded, beaming up at him. "Well, Teddy, your Aunt Hermione and I aren't boyfriend and girlfriend. I was silly last night and did something that made me feel yucky."

"Did you eat too many chocolate frogs? I always feel yucky after I do that." He nodded knowingly and Hermione couldn't help smiling at the serious look on his face.

"Yes, something like that. Well, like I said, I was silly and felt yucky because of it. Your Aunt Hermione was kind enough to help me. She brought me here so I could sleep and feel better."

Teddy nodded in understanding. "Aunt Hermione is very nice. She helped me feel better before. I fell off the broom Uncle Harry bought me for my birthday and hurt my knee. Aunt Hermione healed it with her wand. She said brooms and flying were silly but I don't think that."

"I don't think they're silly either. Tell you what, if you don't tell anyone that I was here - including your Uncle Harry - then you can have a ride on my favourite broom sometime." Hermione gave Draco a look of protest but he ignored it. Teddy gave an excited whoop. "But only if you promise."

"I promise!"

"Good. Now head back over there and draw us a picture of you on a broom."

Teddy ran off back to his pencil crayons, fiddling through their container for the colours he wanted. Draco stood and collected his wand before shrinking his coat and putting it in his trouser pocket. He looked down at Teddy's drawing of Hermione and himself before taking it and folding it into his shirt pocket. Hermione rolled her eyes at him - no doubt he wanted to keep the picture as some sort of souvenir to tease her with.

"Well, I'll be off then. See you around Granger. Another time, Teddy."

"Malfoy, a word before you go?"

Hermione opened her front door, gesturing to Draco that he should follow. He acquiesced without protest, squinting slightly as he stepped into the morning sun.

"Out of curiousity, where am I?"

"Cheshire."

"Really? Didn't peg you for a country girl, Granger."

"It's quiet. Not many wizards around to bother me." She waved her hand dismissively. "That's not important. I understand that you wish to keep staying here last night private, but I can't allow you to make promises to Teddy that you don't intend to keep."

"I wouldn't have made it had I not intended to keep it." He leant closer to her, speaking near her ear in barely a whisper "Here's another promise, Granger. You and I will be getting _silly_ again, and soon."

Hermione eyed him skeptically as she gave her a smirk before apparating.

* * *

Some time later Hermione was distracted from a game of exploding snap with Teddy by a tapping on her window. Upon investigation she noticed a handsome long eared owl. She was surprised to see an unfamiliar owl at her window. To avoid random howlers and other less savory fan mail, she had set up her wards to only allow mail from people she knew. She opened the window and the bird fluttered down onto the back of the couch. Teddy ran to the cupboard she kept owl treats in, excited to feed the bird.

"Hello." Hermione said as she relieved him of the letter he was carrying. "You're just a lovely creature now, aren't you?"

The owl ruffled his feathers with an air of importance that made Hermione chuckle. Evidently this owl knew he was a lovely creature. The letter looked to be a newspaper clipping. Attached was a small note:

 _An interesting read, if I do say so myself._

 _DM_

"Who is the owl from, Aunt Hermione?"

Teddy was feeding the owl treats as he stroked it gently. The owl seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the attention.

"Malfoy."

"Can I send Uncle Malfoy my drawing?"

Hermione smiled and nodded. Teddy went to fetch the piece he had completed earlier. As instructed he had drawn himself on a broom and signed it with his name in the corner. Teddy folded the paper and wrote _To: Uncle Malfoy, Love: Teddy_ on it before the owl took it in his beak. Teddy gave him one last pet before he took off. Hermione unfolded the clipping. She was greeted by a picture of her and Draco. Draco had drawn a little heart around the picture and marked it with an XO. She gave an amused huff at the addition before wincing at the picture. Draco had his face buried in her neck as she lifted her face away from his. If she were anyone else she would have definitely thought it was a romantic interaction.

 _ **CAUGHT IN THE ACT: SECRET LOVE AFFAIR UNCOVERED?**_

 _Rita Skeeter, Freelance Correspondent_

"Naturally it would be Skeeter. Blasted woman - they should have never let her register as an animagus."

 _An incident at the Leaky Cauldron Friday night has revealed some startling information about war heroine and member of The Golden Trio, Hermione Granger._

 _According to eyewitnesses, Granger intervened on behalf of Draco Malfoy, former Death eater and known playboy, when a group of wizards approached him to discuss the implications of his sordid past._

Hermione scoffed at the article. "Discuss, my arse."

 _Melvin Orbis, one of the wizards in the group, noticed that the two were quite comfortable with each other._

" _They got quite 'andsy wif each other._ _She seemed none too fussed about him cuddling up to her while she defended 'im. I fink 'e tried to call her pretty at one stage but she interrupted 'im. I tell you one thing, she definitely wears the pants in that relationship."_

 _The pair were later photographed wrapped around each other by a Daily Prophet photographer, only adding fuel to the notion that they are somehow involved. Whether or not this is the case, her intervention did lead to a brawl within the pub._

 _The brawl, which is said to have been started by several former members of the student organisation Dumbledore's Army, resulted in no major injuries and some minor property damage. The pub owner refused to comment on the matter, stating that we should go stick our noses elsewhere, "like in the back half of a Blast- Ended Skrewt". As a result of the intervention of Harry Potter there were no charges laid against those who participated in the brawl._

 _Daily Prophet readers will recall that in the aftermath of the second war, Potter used his influence to get the charges against his former school enemy acquitted. Given the information that has recently come to light, one might be inclined to believe that there was something between the pair long before the events of Friday night. If this is the case, it would certainly explain the sudden demise of Granger's relationship with Potter's best friend - and if rumors are to be believed - future brother-in-law, Ronald Weasley. Granger's Ministry colleague and one time beau , Cormac McLaggen, believes that it is certainly a possible explanation._

" _After Weasley and Granger broke up, we went on a date. She didn't seem too broken up about the end of their relationship. She certainly seemed uninterested in anything I had to offer."_

Hermione would need to have a word with Cormac at work on Monday. The "date" he was referring to had been no such thing - it had been a work dinner. It hadn't even just been the two of them, their respective department heads had been with was a small note written beside Cormac's quote: _Seeing other men? I'm hurt. I thought we had something special, Granger._ She rolled her eyes

 _Perhaps Ms Granger only has a taste for celebrities. While McLaggen is indeed from a well established and highly connected wizarding family, it would appear that she prefers to only dally with the famous… or in this case, infamous._

 _For more on the romantic exploits of Hermione Granger, turn to page 7._

A few years ago there had been a ridiculous article published that had suggested Hermione had been plotting to overthrow the Ministry with an army of trained garden gnomes. Upon reading it she had promptly decided to ignore anything the gossip rags had to say about her. She crumpled up the ridiculous article Draco had sent her, determined to keep to that decision, and turned back to her game of snap with Teddy. He gave her a confused look when she slammed her next card down with a little more aggression than usual, causing the deck to explode.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Guys, this one is a bit of a filler, I apologise. Alas, you know how it goes... character backgrounds and future plot points must be established! I promise this will lead to more Dramione action in the next chapter. Please R &R, I love hearing what you have to say!**

The rest of Hermione's weekend had been relatively quiet. Ginny had been later than expected in collecting Teddy; her coach had been in a foul mood and made them train harder than usual for their upcoming match. This had not been a problem for Teddy as he had taken advantage of the extra time to try and convince Hermione of the merits of flying. Undeterred by her lack of enthusiasm he barrelled on, eventually discussing which broom he thought Draco might consider his favourite. He seemed to be quite taken with Draco, which worried Hermione slightly. She didn't think Draco knew who Teddy was and was uncertain as to how he would react when he found out.

Shortly after Draco had sent her the clipping from the _Prophet,_ an owl had arrived from Ron. He had read the article and was curious as to whether there had been any overlap between her relationship with him and the one she secretly had with Draco. If that was the case it meant that he had been in two love triangles simultaneously: one with her and Draco and then, according to _Witch Weekly_ , one that involved had Hermione, Millicent Bulstrode, and himself. He had concluded that perhaps it was best that they forsake those from the other houses and fully embrace their clear preference for Slytherins. Hermione had chuckled as he wrote her reply.

 _Ron,_

 _I'm sorry you had to find out this way. You're right, perhaps it is best that we no longer deny ourselves the love that only a Slytherin can provide. There's just something so_ _thrilling_ _wondering if your lover may or may not have a giant basilisk sleeping in the basement. It's much more exciting than dating some silly Gryffindor!_

 _What ever was I thinking?_

 _See you at the match on Tuesday._

 _Hermione x_

* * *

Hermione arrived at work slightly earlier than usual on Monday. She sat waiting in the main foyer for Cormac, hoping to have a word with him in private before he was able to disappear into the bowels of the Ministry. She sipped at her travel mug of coffee, eyeing the floo. She had received one or two side glances from the few employees who were here at this hour, no doubt due to Saturday's article, but she ignored them. She sighed, checking her watch. The one time she needed to speak to him and Cormac was nowhere to be seen. If only that were usually the case. Cormac had been determined to get her to date him since she and Ron broke up. Hermione had no doubt that Cormac's desire to be with her had more to do with advancing his career than anything else.

Hermione decided to call it a day and had just gathered her things to leave when one of the nearby floo entrances flared green. She turned to see Blaise stepping from the fireplace, looking crisp and professional in a pair of navy blue suit pants and a white oxford, his light grey robes adding a pleasant finishing touch. Further down Theodore Nott stepped forward from the fireplace through which he arrived.

"Granger!" Blaise greeted her with one of his usual, dashing smiles. "What brings you here so early? Well, I should say _earlier_ than usual."

"I was hoping to catch someone so I could have a word with them, but it looks like they're avoiding me." Theo had finally caught up to them, looking formal and business like in a grey suit. Hermione smiled at him in greeting. "Theodore Nott, what brings you to the Ministry?"

Theo seemed a little shocked and uncertain that he was being acknowledged at all. He quickly composed himself and held out a hand for Hermione to shake, which she accepted.

"I was recently awarded a contract with the Ministry in regards to accommodation of foreign dignitaries, officials, and other important Ministry guests. I have a meeting regarding the housing of some high profile visitors who will be here this month."

"Theo here owns several leading hotels, in both wizarding and muggle London." Blaise slapped his friend on the back. "Shall we walk you to your office, Granger? Our meeting's not for another half hour. Theo insisted on getting here early to prepare."

Hermione nodded in agreement, thanking Theo when he offered to carry her things. "Excuse my prying, Theo, but does your family not take issue with you doing business with muggles?"

"They're still a bunch of bigots, so I have no doubt that they do, but I have very little contact with them outside of the occasional family get together with my ex-wife and our son."

Hermione was surprised to hear that Theo had been married. She hadn't heard much of him after school. Other than a few articles that mentioned him in relation to his father, he seemed to have managed to stay out of the public eye. She wondered who the woman had been, even with the dearth of gossip rag articles, she was surprised someone hadn't been gossiping about them. Ift there was one thing you could count on in the wizarding world, it was people gossiping.

Hermione kept the banter light as they entered the elevator, sensing that the subject of family was a sensitive one for Theo. It was a pleasant enough ride, ending with Blaise setting up a lunch date for the three of them later that week. They had tried to walk her into her office but she had insisted that they go and prepare for their meeting. A dramatic "as you wish, my lady" from Blaise had left Hermione giggling as the door closed. She had chastised herself for looking like some silly schoolgirl, but had continued to smile nonetheless.

She smiled in greeting at the department secretary, Milly Tweed, as she entered their offices. The blonde, who was rather wispy and plain looking, gave her a judgemental side glance as she passed. No doubt the woman had read the article in the _Prophet_ ; she was a notorious gossip, Hermione did not doubt that the witch had already discussed her alleged relationship with anyone who would listen. She entered her office, distracted as she removed her cloak.

"Morning, Granger."

Hermione looked up from her cloak to see Draco sitting at her desk, feet up, sipping a take away coffee. See eyed another coffee and a muffin next to his legs. No wonder Milly had given her such a judgemental look. She felt her good mood sour slightly as she thought of how much gossip his presence in her office would generate, especially after the _Prophet_ article.

"Good morning, Malfoy. Is there any particular reason you're in my office at such an early hour?"

Hermione hung her cloak. She began to feel very aware of the outfit she had picked out for the tan pencil skirt was suddenly far too tight and she glanced down quickly to check that all the buttons on her navy oxford were done up. She frowned slightly to herself, feeling silly for being self conscious because of Draco. She turned to face him, giving him an expectant look when he hadn't answered her question. He raised his eyebrows in an amused fashion, shrugged and then smirked.

"Can't I visit my secret lover in the morning? Or would you prefer that I was at your cottage again, in naught but a towel?"

"Ah… Miss Granger?"

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _Of course_ Milly would choose to come into her office as Draco discussed his state of undress over the weekend. Hermione turned to the witch and smiled as if he had said nothing. Her smile faltered when she saw the way Milly was looking excitedly between them.

"Milly, this is Draco Malfoy. We went to Hogwarts together."

Milly gave her a suspicious look, before shooting a quick smile of greeting at Draco. He gave her a flirtatious wink that, for some reason, annoyed Hermione. She rolled her eyes in an attempt to hide the flare of emotion but her tone was slightly more curt than before when she asked Milly if she needed anything.

"This package came for you. I forgot to give it to you when you came in."

 _Forgot my arse. You just wanted to see if you could catch us snogging._

"Thank you, Milly."

Hermione took the package from the witch and placed it on her desk, flicking Draco's feet off its surface. He rolled the chair out of her way as she came around the desk, eyes flicking down to her arse with a mischievous grin. When she noticed Milly watching their interaction, Hermione bit back her annoyance and asked the witch if she needed anything else.

"No." Her eyes darted between the two.

"Well, you best get back to work then."

Draco stood for Hermione as she made a shooing gesture towards him. He took a seat on the edge of her desk, back towards Milly. The blonde witch hesitated before dipping out of the office. Hermione was certain she would run straight to her friends in Admin and tell them all about Draco's towel comment. She very quickly stopped herself from remembering him in that towel, hair damp and messy, skin dewy from the shower.

 _Stop that Hermione! Merlin, this is not how I wanted to start my week_.

"Why are you here, Malfoy?" She asked as she started laying her work things out on the desk.

She briefly eyed the coffee he had brought before opening a file and looking down at it. Her own travel mug sat, forgotten, on the edge of her desk. It was far less appealing now that she could smell the wonderful scent coming from the take away cup.

"Meeting at the Ministry." He answered as he hopped off the desk and came round the stand next to her chair.

"Is this meeting happening in my office?" She quipped, not looking up at him. "Or are you just hiding from feisty old Fernsby?"

Without warning, Draco spun her chair to face him. He boxed her in, placing his hands on the arms of her chair. He looked her in the eyes for a brief moment before leaning forward. Hermione's heart skipped a beat as his face drew nearer to hers. She inhaled a wonderful rich smell as he came ever closer; it was a woody, masculine smell that was wondrous compared to how he had smelt when they were last this close. Her eyes darted down to his lips, not noticing him lift something from her desk. He drew back from her, holding up the muffin between them with a smirk.

"Thought I might stop by and replace your _bloody_ muffin."

"How nice of you." Hermione replied in an attempt at a neutral tone; she had no doubt that she was failing dismally to sound as if his proximity had not started her heart racing. She grabbed the muffin from him and placed it back on her desk, eyes not leaving his. He gave her a smirk and stood, straightening his robe. "Is that all?"

"For now." The naughty grin that spread across his face sent a jolt of unexpected thrill running down her spine. He walked to her office door, shooting her one last smirk before disappearing.

His departure was soon followed by the arrival of a memo from the Games and Sports department. Hermione just managed to duck out the way, avoiding the unpleasantness of being poked in the eye. The memo, however, still managed to tangle itself in her hair. She muttered to herself as she retrieved the troublesome piece of paper from her curls.

"Merlin help whoever sent this."

She was in the process of unfurling the memo when she paused, eyes coming to rest on the muffin Draco had brought her. She placed the memo down on the desk, taking up the muffin in its instead. She took a bite.

 _Oh…_

Another bite.

 _Oh, my!_

She washed down her bite with some of the coffee Draco had brought her. Hermione sighed as she inhaled the rich, comforting aroma. If this is what he replaced her muffin with, Hermione wondered what she could get for her couch; it still smelt slightly of firewhiskey. Perhaps she should casually mention that the next time they met.

Hermione paused at that idea. It surprised her that it wasn't an unpleasant one. In fact that more she thought over their interaction, the more Hermione realised that she hadn't been uncomfortable with Draco's presence. His close proximity had certainly elicited a reaction from her but it hadn't been… _unpleasant_.

She shook her head, not wanting to get caught up in this particular line of thought. It was Draco Malfoy after all; he was probably only behaving this way because he thought it would annoy her. There was no way he actually wanted to get "silly" with her. Hermione picked up the memo again, using it to distract herself from wondering what exactly Draco had meant when he said "silly". It was from Blaise. He thanked her helping Draco and apologised for the fact that she now had yet another article about her love life because of it.

 _Although, I have to say that it's about time someone other than Potter gets to have a secret, sordid affair with Draco._

Hermione smiled at the quip, glad that Blaise also found the gossip articles ridiculous. She wondered briefly if he had read the article about her and the garden gnomes.

He also thanked her for being so civil with Theo. Evidently there were still people in the wizarding community who treated him poorly because of his father; all despite his efforts to show he is nothing like his father or the other members of his family.

 _Like a true Slytherin, Theo doesn't show that it affects him but I know that it does._

Hermione felt a sudden pang of sadness. It had not occurred to her to treat Theo in any manner other than what she had. As she finished reading the memo, she made a mental note to try and socialize more with Theo in the future. Perhaps she would suggest that they lunch at one of his hotel's restaurants - a way for her to show interest in what he does. Yes, that would be it; she would message him later, but for now she needed to get started on her day's work.

* * *

Blaise was returning to his office after a very successful meeting; the Ministry had been very impressed with Theo's preparations for the delegation. He hadn't technically needed to be there but Blaise had taken the opportunity to discuss which of Theo's hotels would be used for a big international quidditch match he was organizing. Theo had seen himself out the Ministry after the meeting; he too was clearly happy with the morning's results. Blaise suspected that his mood also had something to do with the fact that Hermione had been so nice to him in the elevator.

Blaise adjusted his robes, using the reflection of the elevator doors as he waited for them to open. When they eventually did, a wispy blonde witch shot him a coy smile before she departed. He winked at her, causing her to blush.

"I'd be wary of that one, if I were you. Quite the gossip. She's just come from a wonderful little session about Granger and myself."

Blaise turned his attention from the witch - she was scowling angrily at Draco - and stepped onto the elevator. She shot Draco a final, venomous glare as the doors closed. He highly doubted that it was wise for Draco to be goading her the way he was, especially if she was the gossip he claimed her to be. He decided to keep that to himself, however.

"Morning, Draco. Here on business?"

"I came to volunteer my services as a potions master to the Ministry."

Blaise raised his eyebrows. "When did you become so _charitable_ with your skills?"

Draco didn't reply but merely shrugged, pulling out his wand and twirling it in his fingers. Blaise gave him a suspicious look.

"You're a potions master of the first class, Draco. Highest qualifying marks since Snape took the test. Knowing you, you haven't come to volunteer for research. You would have done that years ago had you seen any benefit in it for yourself."

Blaise paused for a moment, running through everything he knew of that would require Draco's skill as a potions master. There were several departments that could use his mastery of the art; some of them had even approached him with offers of work over the years, but he had never shown interest in helping before. What could have made him change his mind so suddenly?

Blaise sighed when he realized what it was: _Granger's werewolf case_.

"Tricky potion, Wolfsbane."

Draco didn't reply, he simply smirked as he pocketed his wand once more. Blaise rolled his eyes as the elevator announced his stop. As he stepped off he turned to his friend.

"Good luck dealing with her once she finds out. That witch has a fierce stinging hex."

Draco kept up his smirk. Blaise had a feeling he had forgotten what it had been like to be on the receiving end of Hermione's wrath. Before he could turn back to his office Draco spoke.

"Listen Blaise, I was a right dick on Friday."

"I know." Blaise replied to the closing doors. It was as close an apology as one could ever expect from Draco and Blaise would take it. He scoffed and shook his head as he returned to his office. He would give his fortune to be a fly on the wall when Hermione found out that she would be working with Draco


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: This story has become a bit of a slow burn for all the relationships, but I really don't want to rush it (for the sake of the story and the fact that I'm thoroughly enjoying writing it). Hope you enjoy this chapter! As always, please R &R - I love hearing your thoughts! **

Hermione shot Draco a scathing look over her shoulder. He was busy talking to a wizard who was seated in front of him, unaware of her wrathful gaze. How she wished she could punch that pretty little face again.

She had been ready to hex someone the previous day after being told that he would be working on the werewolf case with her. Not only had yesterday's attempts at finding and chewing out Cormac been unsuccessful, she had to process the fact that Draco Malfoy would now be a colleague.

 _What did he think he was getting at?_ _This wasn't some school project; the freedom of a man was at stake!_

Why did he even want to work on the case in the first place? Was he bored of being - as the papers described him - "independently wealthy"? Was this a way for him to continue his attempts to annoy her with his "flirting"? (All of her own reactions to his flirting were forgotten in her current mood.) Hermione had accidentally snapped two pencils in half while she thought over the situation. Milly had snorted at the sight of their remains in her waste basket. This had caused Hermione to snap a third pencil. That had not been an accident.

Curiosity had quickly pushed aside - but not entirely overcome - her anger and irritation when she learnt that Draco was a potions master of the first class. It was not something she had expected of him; he didn't need the qualification for work - she wasn't even sure if he'd worked anywhere since leaving school. Eventually, much to her annoyance, that curiosity had gotten the better of her and she had snuck off to the archives under the guise of getting some information for a meeting.

Tom, the elderly records keeper Hermione thought was best described as "creaky", had easily found the dusty records for the years since she had left Hogwarts; evidently not many took the test for first class anymore. He had told her that in the last ten years only two had gone to the trouble; the Ministry required only second class, first order of its potions masters, so not many bothered going through the effort.

Not wanting to make it obvious that she was interested in Draco's marks she had rifled through the other wizard's first. His results were rather average, and caused her to become even more curious about Draco's. Her case supervisor, Peter Wickham, stated his marks had been the reason that his help had been accepted so readily. She knew he was intelligent, he was second only to her in marks during their time at Hogwarts, but the first class test was _notoriously_ difficult.

She had casually paged through the file to his results. They were impressive. Peter had indeed been correct when he had said Draco was "exceptionally qualified". For a reason she couldn't quite put her finger on this annoyed Hermione. She had snapped the file closed, a plume of dust engulfing her as a result.

 _Does nobody ever clean this bloody place?_

She had stomped off back to her office in a huff, thanking Tom through her dusty coughs. Hermione had nearly hexed Milly when she smugly pointed out she had dust in her hair.

"Hermione, who do you… oh, nevermind."

"Sorry, Harry. I'm still annoyed that he's suddenly decided to work with the Ministry.' She finished the last of her wine, turning to Harry. "I mean, is this some new way of taunting me?"

"Just ignore him, Hermione. He's only going to be successful in taunting you if you let him."

Hermione thought that it was a bit rich, Harry telling her to "just ignore" Draco, especially considering their history - evidently their entire sixth year at Hogwarts had slipped his mind. She kept this to herself, however. Harry turned his attention back to the pitch, eagerly watching Ginny. Ron and the rest of the Weasley children were being slightly more _enthusiastic_ in their support of the witch and her team, having had one or two firewhiskeys. They stood huddled at the front of the box, cheering happily. Mrs Weasley was giving a stern look to each of them in turn.

Hermione looked around the box in which they sat. Blaise and Theo sat with Draco on the opposite side. She was glad of this, had Draco been any closer, the evening might not be going as well for him. He had apparently seen fit to bring a date with to the match. Astoria Greengrass sat, looking absolutely bored - at both what was happening on the pitch and the lack of attention she was receiving from Draco. She tried to engage some of the others around them - mostly high ranking Ministry officials and members of the players' family- in conversation but they were all more interested in the game. Hermione wondered why he'd even brought her in the first place; quidditch was clearly not something she was interested in.

Deciding that neither Ginny nor the other seeker seemed close to finding the snitch, Hermione slid from her seat and headed to the box bar to get another glass of wine. She gave the bartender a smile.

"Glass of red, please. Pinotage if you have."

He blushed and informed her he'd just emptied the last bottle but would quickly run to the supply room to see if they had another. Hermione watched the young wizard scamper off; he reminded her a great deal of Stan Shunpike. She smiled, remembering when Stan tried to charm Veela by telling them he was going to be the Minister of Magic.

"Having a good time?"

Hermione turned to face Draco. She felt a shiver of excitement run down her spine as she noticed his close proximity. She inhaled the scent of him, this time she could just smell the faintest hint of broom wax and parchment. It was intoxicating. She told herself it was just the wine. She was supposed to be angry with him.

"I would be but it's just that I'm having to deal with this utter git at work."

The bartender returned with a smile, having been successful in his search for wine. Hermione watched as he poured her a fresh glass. He blushed a little when she gave him a flirtatious smile, followed by a generous tip. She turned to Draco and he raised his eyebrows, an amused look on his face.

"Come now Granger, I doubt he's that bad."

"We went to school together, you see. He was a right arse and constantly tried to make my life hell. It would seem that he's continuing this tradition, only now he's changed tactics." She adjusted her jumper (knitted by Mrs Weasley - dark green with a gold talon pattern across the front panel), before taking her glass of wine from the bar. "Now, he's decided that the best way to annoy me is to pretend to flirt with me."

Before they could continue the conversation, a large cheer went up from the Weasleys. Hermione turned to see Harry scrambling to the front of the box where they stood, urging a speeding Ginny on as she chased after the snitch. The other team's seeker was close on her tail, but a bludger sent his way quickly put some distance between them. Hermione tensed when Ginny took a sudden dive after the snitch changed its course.

Ron stumbled to the floor as George jumped in excitement, using his brother's shoulders as a launching pad. Hermione could just hear Mrs Weasley scolding him over the shouts and cheers. Hermione wasn't sure why Mrs Weasley was still trying - even Percy had lost his usual composure. His tie and glasses were askew; some of the top buttons of his oxford were ripped off as George stopped jumping on Ron and pulled him into the excitement.

Her attention was drawn from the streaking form of her best friend as she felt Draco slip something into the back pocket of her jeans. She turned to chastise this behaviour only to be stopped dead at the feel of his breath against her ear. She felt goosebumps erupt across her skin as its warmth trailed across the surface of her neck.

"Perhaps he isn't pretending."

Hermione's heart skipped a beat as she watched him walk back to a cheering Blaise. Her mind was seemingly unable to process what had just been whispered into her ear. She took a large, bracing gulp from her wine before rejoining Harry and the Weasleys. She made it to them just in time to see Ginny catch the snitch. She gave a gleeful shriek as Harry picked her up and spun her around, unconcerned by the wine spilling onto his team shirt. As he spun her, Hermione caught a glimpse of Theo; there was a strange look on his face. She couldn't quite place it - perhaps something akin to longing. He quickly looked away when he noticed that she was looking in his direction.

As soon as her feet returned to the ground, Hermione was pulled into a bone crushing hug by Ron. He looked as if he might kiss her on the lips, but he quickly realized himself and placed it on her cheek instead. They smiled at each other awkwardly before breaking apart and continuing the celebration. She turned into a grinning Blaise. He put his arms around her and Harry's shoulders, shaking them merrily.

"Such a pity you cancelled that bet, Potter! Your little fireball put on quite a performance tonight!"

Hermione, who was struggling to stay balanced under the weight of Blaise's arms, was quite certain that the wizard was tipsy. She waved at Ginny as she broke away from her team's celebrations and hopped on her broom, making a beeline for their box. For the briefest of seconds, Hermione was certain she saw Ginny hesitate at the sight of Blaise standing between them.

Harry broke free of Blaise and leaned over the side of the box, waiting for a kiss. Ginny hovered before him, allowing for a whispered conversation before kissing him chastely on the lips. Her eyes darted briefly to Blaise before she closed them. Hermione, who for a brief moment thought she made the movement up, looked up to see Blaise giving Ginny a rather predatory look.

 _What in Merlin's name?_

Blaise looked down and Hermione quickly averted her eyes. She wasn't sure it was a good idea for him to catch her intruding on whatever _that_ was. He squeezed her tighter, causing her to squirm in protest, laughing all the while. She wasn't used to Blaise being this openly affectionate and while she had no problem with it, Hermione was suspicious of his motives - especially considering what she had just seen.

"You owe me a dinner, Granger! If you hadn't convinced Potter to call off our usual bet, I would be swimming in the galleons. Well, not swimming, per say." He said, laughing to himself, "Perhaps splashing in a paddle pool."

With that he squeezed her one last time before he made to return to his friends. He kissed the top of her head before departing, and unseen to Hermione he was making eye contact with Ginny the entire time. Hermione merely gave him a look of mock exasperation and turned to her friend.

"Ginny! You were fantastic!" Hermione cried.

She was hopping up and down to try and see her over the many red haired heads that crowded her. Ginny waved at her in acknowledgement as she fought off a tearful Percy. Hermione laughed to herself, Percy was always a weepy drunk. Ginny managed to extricate herself from the sea of limbs just long enough to tell them she needed to get back and would see them all later. Hermione stood next to Harry as he waved her down. She looked over his shoulder, trying to see if Blaise was watching Ginny. He was. More alarmingly both Theo and Draco were looking in her direction.

 _What is going on with these Slytherins?_

Draco gave her a final smirk before he turned to leave with the rest of his party. George had let some of the newly developed Weasley's Celebratory Wheezes off. There were several within the box who were having to conjure umbrellas to protect themselves from the plumes of luridly coloured glitter that were erupting all around them. Hermione took advantage of the confusion being caused to head back to the bar.

She placed what was left of her wine back on the counter and slid the note Draco had given her from her pocket. She checked no one was watching her before she unfolded the parchment. She struggled to keep her face straight at the sight of an address; it looked to be a flat in London.

Hermione folded the paper, eyes wide, and slid it into her pocket once more. She returned to the Weasleys, hugging Mrs Weasley in somewhat of a daze. She smiled at Mr Weasley, thinking that perhaps Hogwarts should change it's logo.

 _Never tickle a drunken Slytherin_. _Simple. To the point. Perhaps stick a warning label on them as soon as they get sorted: Caution. Avoid when drunk._

That's the advice witches and wizards needed; dealing with a recently tickled dragon would be far easier.

"Probably safer, too." She muttered to herself as she dodged one of the celebratory streamers that George had set off.

* * *

Hermione sat, later that night, looking at the small piece of parchment on the coffee table. She folded and unfolded her hands, contemplating what Draco had whispered in her ear.

 _Perhaps he isn't pretending._

The more she tried to contemplate the note and what it meant, the more his words floated through her thoughts. Eventually she let out a frustrated growl and snatched the paper from the table. She walked to the her empty waste paper basket, looking at the address once more before dropping it in. She stomped into her room and changed into her pyjamas. She brushed her teeth. She set out her clothes for the next day, pausing to eye the waste paper basket as she walked past the bedroom door.

She climbed into bed and settled in with a book. Hermione could just see the waste paper basket from her bed; she lifted the book higher to block it from her view. She got about halfway through her page before she noticed she had read the same line several times. She huffed in annoyance, closing the book and switching off the light. She tossed and turned for a few minutes before settling on her back and staring up at the roof.

"Bugger!" she muttered angrily to herself as she threw back the covers, stomping over to the trash can and retrieving the piece of parchment. She marched over to the fridge, grabbed a magnet and placed the note on its door. Hermione turned back to her bed, muttering angrily the entire way.

"Bugger! Bugger! _Bugger, bloody, bugger!"_


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: As usual, please R &R. Love hearing your thoughts!**

Friday afternoon Hermione trudged into her department, a trail of slightly damp footprints in her wake. A arbitration between some merpeople had gone slightly awry when one of the junior translators accidentally insulted them; he'd gotten a mouthful of loch water as he tried to apologize. The merpeople people present had put aside their differences for the moment and used their tails to send a wave at the Ministry officials present. Hermione had not been quick enough to escape it and as a result she had been drenched to the bone.

The translator at fault had mumbled apologies as he dried her off. He had not been successful in the endeavour, merely leaving her damp and annoyed. Hermione hadn't wanted to make him feel even more inept by finishing the job herself, so she had stoically trudged through the Ministry with him, ignoring the confused looks they were receiving. Hermione didn't quite understand the looks, there had been much stranger things to happen in the Ministry's many halls - just last month her department had brought in a troll who was trying to convince people he was a member of the Banchory Bangers. He had nicked a uniform from somewhere and had kept showing up at practice. The team had found it all very amusing until troll in question had attempted replace the one beater - trying to eliminate the competition in a rather unsavory manner.

"You seemed to have gotten a tad _wet_ , Miss Granger."

Hermione forced a smile at Milly's little comment. The witch seemed to barely be able to contain her glee at the sight of her disheveled state. There was little doubt in Hermione's mind that Milly was particularly gleeful at the state of her hair. Even she had been alarmed when she caught a glimpse of herself in the reflection of the elevator doors.

 _One of these days, you little tart!_

She made her way to her office, leaving the smirking witch to do whatever it was she did on a Friday afternoon (Hermione was certain it wasn't actual work, although she couldn't prove it). Upon entering her office, Hermione sighed at the sight of Draco in her chair. Naturally he would chose to be here when she looked like she'd been dragged backwards through a hedge. He was using his wand to fly an origami dragon around his head. He looked her over and smiled as she walked in, making the dragon land on her desk.

"I take it your meeting with the merpeople didn't go too well?"

Hermione was so drained from her week and its rather wet conclusion that she didn't even bother to ask how he knew what she had been doing.

"One of the junior translators accidentally insulted them. I can't believe I cancelled a lunch with Blaise and Theo for this." She sighed as she unceremoniously dumped her things on the desk, wincing as some water dripped from her cloak onto the desk. "He did a bang up job on the drying spell, too."

"Allow me to assist, then."

He pointed his wand at her and Hermione closed her eyes, letting out an involuntary sound of pleasure at finally being dry and warm. She thanked him as she came round to her desk draw, fishing a hair tie from their little container. Draco stood from her chair, slipping the elastic from her fingers and lifting her hair from her shoulders. Her skin tingled as his fingers brushed against her neck. They lingered for the briefest of seconds before whisking her hair into a ponytail.

Ponytail complete, Hermione turned to face him. Their interactions since Tuesday had been limited. Hermione had had mixed feelings about this. While it had given her some time to think over his behaviour - she'd spent her mornings standing across from the fridge, eating her oats, staring at the address - she had found herself thinking more of how it had made her heart race with excitement. She had tried every time to quash those thoughts. Tried and failed.

She had seen him once in a progress meeting and once when he requested to be present at Monday's interview with the werewolf from their case. On both occasions he had been professional, but Hermione had caught him eyeing her once or twice when people weren't looking. The secretive nature of the glances, of all that had transpired between them since she had helped him, was somewhat thrilling to Hermione. A niggling little voice - which annoyingly, sounded awfully like Gilderoy Lockhart - kept telling her that perhaps she should enjoy that thrill to its fullest. Hermione chastised the voice; she was not some secretive thrill seeker.

Now she felt that all too familiar flutter in her chest as he took a step back, eyes never leaving hers. Her eyes darted down to his lips, before she looked away from him. She needed to know why he was flirting with her like this. She had serious doubts that he had changed so much since the war that he was willing to be with a muggleborn.

"Why are you doing this Malfoy? Flirting with me like you have."

She turned back to him, he was looking off to the door in a pensive manner. Hermione was wary of the smirk that spread over his face.

"That's a good question, Granger. We can discuss it over dinner tonight." He strode off to the door, not giving her a second glance. "You have my address. Come round anytime after eight."

And then he was gone. Hermione blinked at the door, her mind taking a few moments to catch up to what had just happened.

"What?" She asked to the empty room as everything clicked into place.

Draco Malfoy, _Draco Malfoy,_ had asked her round to his place for dinner. To discuss his intentions towards her. Her, Hermione Granger. She strode briskly from her office in the hopes of catching up to him and asking him who he thought he was, just _assuming_ she would show up as if she had nothing better to do. She didn't, _but that was besides the point_. She stormed passed Milly, who watched her openly - the nosey bint - and just managed to catch the last glimpse of Draco before the elevator doors closed. He gave her a pleased little smirk that elicited an indignant huff.

* * *

At eight o'clock that night, Hermione sat on her couch staring at her clock. She had immediately taken a shower when she had gotten home from work - her hair had a faint fishy smell to it - before changing into a pair of jeans and jumper. She'd spent her time in the shower trying to reason with herself; she had decided she would go to Draco as she needed to know what was going on.

 _You're not going on a date._

 _You're going to get information. Nothing more._

 _I wonder what his flat looks like?_

She paused at this thought, remembering her emotional anguish at having to go into the manor again. All that could have been avoided if he'd just told her he lived elsewhere. She would have to have a word with him about that.

 _I bet everything is green in his flat; a little replica of the Slytherin dorms._ _I wonder if that Witch Weekly article was correct and that he does have a life size nude portrait of himself hanging above his bed. That's not important right now!_

 _It. is._ _not_ _. a. date. It's just an excursion in fact finding._

 _What if I_ _want_ _it to be a date? What if I want to be a secretive thrill seeker?_

She paused, fingers still tangled in her hair, and stared at the shower tiles in front of her. Hermione gave a frustrated sigh before continuing to wash her hair.

"This isn't some school drama, Hermione!" She said aloud, as if actually saying the words made them true somehow. "Look at you getting all flustered! It's ridiculous! Be reasonable about this. It won't be a date - _it won't_ \- and you are not some secretive thrill seeker!"

 _But if something happens, it happens. A once of thing can't hurt anybody, can it?_

"Bugger!"

Now that it was eight o'clock, she stared at the clock for a few moments. She'd eventually come to the conclusion that if something happened tonight, so be it. Reason had won out and she had realized she wouldn't have kept Draco's address if she wasn't keen, or at least she wasn't averse to the idea of him. That didn't mean that she would go actively seeking anything out - she was still unsure of his motives. She reasoned that if something did happen it would most likely be a quiet, once off thing and not the start of some grand romance.

"How ridiculous." she scoffed as she gathered her small sling. She deposited her essentials and grabbed the note off the fridge. She concentrated on the address - _destination, determination, deliberation_ \- and disappeared from her kitchen.

* * *

Hermione appeared in a mid sized foyer. It had a lavish feel to it, without being overdone; the walls were lined with paintings and a small bronze sculpture sat on a table next to a chaise lounge. She was somewhat startled at the sight of a very muggle looking elevator at the foyer's far end.

"Miss Granger. Please come inside. Master Draco is still getting ready."

The elevator was quickly pushed from her mind as she turned to see a fully clothed house elf. The little creature, clad in a tiny beret and a toddler sized dress, smiled at her as she came behind her and started to nudge her inside. Evidently Hermione did not move quick enough for this elf's liking. Once she was inside, the elf closed the door and pottered off to what Hermione assumed was the bedroom.

Left to her own - rather confused - devices, she began to take in her surrounds. The flat had an open plan kitchen, dining area and lounge area, much like her own cottage. Only in the case of Draco's flat, its contents seemed to gently nudge a person and remind them that they weren't bought at the local flea market. The floor to ceiling bookcases that ran from one end of the flat to the very large window on the other, distracted Hermione from the rest of the its contents. Her eyes danced along book titles as she inhaled their comforting smell.

Hermione moved towards window, fingers trailing along book spines as she went, curious to see where they were. She couldn't help but smile when she reached it. The flat was dimly lit, causing the twinkling of city lights below to seem infinitely more magical. The dancing lights from the cars passing for below, the distant yellow glow from the signage of a muggle fast food chain - _what?_

Hermione squinted down at the giant, yellow letter as everything clicked into place. The elevator, the cars, the fast food.

 _He lives in Muggle London?_

Her shock was short lived however, when she felt someone standing behind her. She looked up to see Draco, a somewhat smug smirk on his face, in the reflection of the window. His close proximity caused the flutter in her chest to ignite.

"Lovely view, isn't it?"

"Yes." she answered, her eyes not leaving his reflection. "It certainly is."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I'm away this week so the next chapter might be a little later than usual.**

 **Some of you might read this and think: "Another crazy thing happened at work" but I feel like the entire Department for the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures often gets labelled as boring. While I have taken some liberties on its structure and who Hermione would interact with, I think there is good reason its the second biggest department in the Ministry. Creatures, be they beings or otherwise, are not going to behave.**

 **P.s. I know Merpeople are technically beasts, having refused being status. Hermione in this story usually only works with beings but given the intelligence of Merpeople and their established culture it would make sense that the Ministry would send a being liaison.**

 **Enjoy the chapter, readers, and as usual please R &R! Love your feedback!**

"Drink, Granger?" Hermione watched as Draco's reflection turned away from her and walked over to a drinks cart. "Wine? Firewhiskey? I might have some gin if you're interested."

"Nothing at the moment, thanks." Draco nodded and poured himself a firewhiskey. "I came here because I would like to discuss your recent behaviour towards me."

Draco smiled and gestured for her to take a seat. Hermione decided on a grey wingback in his lounge area. It was just too comfortable for sunk into the chair, wondering if Draco would notice if she shrunk it down and slipped it into her bag - it would make the perfect reading chair in her cottage. Draco took up the matching chair opposite her.

"Straight to business, I see. No wonder the Ministry sends you to deal with all the most difficult beings. A little birdy told me even some of the vampires are intimidated by you."

"If you're referring to that incident with the visiting Romanian vampire, she deserved it."

Hermione scoffed at the memory of the incident. In an effort to get out of punishment for smuggling illegal goods into Britain, the vampire in question had tried to seduce the junior officer with Hermione. Unable to get to her wand, Hermione had thrown a nearby pot plant and hit her target dead on. A face full of potting soil turned out to be an effective deterrent: the vampire had behaved for the rest of their interrogation.

"Back to the topic at hand, Malfoy. What's going on? Not a peep from you for years and then suddenly you're bringing me baked goods at work and inviting me over for dinner."

"Before we get to that, I would like to discuss what I promised to Teddy. I'm free tomorrow morning and most of the afternoon. I'd like for you to send and owl and organize it with Andromeda that he comes to you tomorrow."

Hermione struggled to hide her surprise at the casual way in which Draco spoke of his aunt. Draco stood and collected a map from nearby and handed it to her. It took her a moment to realize it was a map of Cheshire. A small 'x' marked off an area near her home.

"I've looked at maps of your area, there is a small grove just down from you that would provide sufficient cover for him to have a go with me on the broom."

Hermione watched Draco as he took up the chair opposite her once more.

"You know who Teddy is then?"

"I do. My mother added him to the manor's family tree records shortly after the war. She may not be as liberal as her sister, but the woman is one blasted beast of records keeper. Where dearest grandmother sought to destroy evidence of those she felt wronged the house Black, my mother was more astute. In a changing society, you never know which of those disgraced family members may become handy."

"I shan't write a single word if you think of Teddy as nothing more than "handy", Malfoy."

"Oh don't be so _dramatic_ , Granger." He scoffed with a cheeky grin, before calling for his elf. She hopped along from inside his bedroom, smiling happily. "Whippy, please bring some writing materials and Aethon for Miss Granger."

The elf nodded and disappeared.

"I'm serious, Malfoy."

"And I'm not my mother, Granger. While I am no fool, I see no advantage to this… other than to replace Potter as his favourite uncle. I have the brooms to do it, too." He smirked and took a sip of his drink, watching Hermione as she rolled her eyes. "If only others were so easily won over."

"It would take more than brooms to win me over, unfortunately."

Hermione tried to give her best "I am unimpressed by such things" look, but it was hampered by her attempts not to smile at the thoroughly amused look Draco was giving her.

Whippy returned with the writing materials and a bored looking Aethon pouncing up and down on her head. The owl fluttered up to the back of Draco's chair and settled himself while Whippy placed the writing materials in front of Hermione. The witch smiled at the elf but made no move to take up the quill and parchment. Draco raised his eyebrows in amusement, tickling the top of Aethon's head. The owl gave a little hoot of enjoyment.

"Does Master Draco need anything more from Whippy befores she leaves for the night?"

"No, that will be all Whippy, thank you. We'll order in for dinner."

Whippy bowed and disappeared. Hermione frowned at the interaction, she had never expected Draco to be so civil with an elf, but then again she had only ever known of how Dobby was treated by his father. Unable to stifle her curiosity, Hermione asked about Whippy.

"Do you pay your elf, Malfoy? I noticed she wears clothes, quite stylish by elf standards."

"I do and she is. Whippy worked for the Goyles. They forced her to take clothes after she defended the old Black elf - Kreacher, I think it is. Feared it would start a rebellion among the elves, I suppose; who knows with those nutters. I heard of the dismissal through the pureblood gossip vine and decided that employing her would be an excellent opportunity to piss them off."

He paused, taking a sip of his firewhiskey before continuing.

"She was quite a tough negotiator when it came to pay - flat out refused my initial sum, said it was too much and even she had more sense than to accept it. Eventually we settled on enough knuts for her to save and buy muggle clothes; as you saw, she is quite a fan of dresses. The squibs that work here go shopping for her at muggle stores."

"Squibs work here? I thought this was muggle London?"

"It is. This is the penthouse suite in one of Theo's hotels; I'm a live in guest, if you would. He employs squibs, cutting out the awkward explanations around how I get in and out without the elevator or the odd explosion from a potion gone wrong. He also thinks that it gives them an opportunity to escape the judgement they often face working in the wizarding world without losing their connection to it. Bleeding heart, Theo is."

"Wanting people to be treated well isn't "bleeding heart", Malfoy. It's normal."

Draco dipped his glass in agreement, before gesturing towards the quill and parchment. Aethon cooed softly behind him, ruffling his feathers as if he were getting impatient.

"If I do this," Hermione took up the quill and parchment, beginning to write, "and I find out that you have somehow used it to your advantage, you _will_ be on the receiving end of one of my stinging hexes and I won't aim for anywhere _pleasant._ "

Draco gave a little snort of amusement at her threat. She rolled up the note neatly and gestured for Aethon. The owl fluttered down, landing on the table with his usual air of utter importance. He held out his leg and allowed Hermione to strap the note to it. Draco held out his arm for the bird and disappeared into his room with the owl, returning a moment later without him. He once again offered Hermione something to drink; this time she agreed to a glass of wine. Once he'd handed it to her he took up his chair opposite her once again.

"Now, back to business. You seem to have some reservations about my behaviour towards you."

"Taking our relationship at school into account, you can imagine why I'm skeptical."

"I was a foolish schoolboy then, far too indoctrinated to see truth. Is it so hard to believe that I have changed since then? That I might just be interested in you - no strings attached, or ulterior motives?"

Hermione couldn't help but laugh.

 _No ulterior motives my arse!_

"Try again, Malfoy."

Draco chuckled and took a sip of his firewhiskey, watching Hermione as she mirrored the action with her wine.

"Fine. Here's the honest truth." Draco leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He oozed a self confidence that Hermione couldn't help but find attractive. "You helped me - came to my defense - even with our history being what it is. You took me to your own home, even though I have never really given you any reason to trust me. Surprisingly, you didn't chuck me out after I tried to _cuddle_ and you tolerated my presence for sometime after I woke."

Hermione scoffed.

"Tolerated is a _tad_ generous. I thought about hexing you several times for your cheek. You're lucky Teddy was there."

Draco gave her a mischievous smirk.

"Nevertheless, you received nothing of benefit from your actions. In fact, all you got was another rumor mill article that painted you as some secretive harlot, seducing your way through famous - or in my case, infamous - wizarding Britain. Even after that, you didn't kick me out of your office on sight."

"So you're flirting with me because I was nice to you?"

"No, I'm grateful to you for being 'nice' to me. I'm flirting with you simply because I want to. I'm sure you're aware of what you look like in a pencil skirt. Add that to your intelligence and somewhat fearsome reputation as a Creature Liaison Officer and even I'm not stupid enough to pass up an opportunity to flirt with you. "

Hermione took a sip of her wine to hide her smile. There was something oddly satisfying in hearing Draco Malfoy, former school bully, admitting that he was grateful to her for something _she_ did. The fact that he thought she was attractive - for something more than just her looks - well, that was… it was besides the point. This wasn't the time to let him fan her ego.

"If I didn't know about the pencil skirts before, Blaise certainly made it clear to me."

"While I'm sure that he's being truthful with that observation, I have no doubt he compliments you to try and get a rise out of that little red bird of his. He does it around Potter a great deal, does he not?"

"Yes, but what's tha- oh."

Hermione recalled how once, at Grimmauld Place, Ginny had seemed particularly miffed when Harry had told her about Blaise flirting with Hermione in the morning elevator ride. At the time Hermione had just chalked it up to her being stressed for an upcoming match, but taken with the incident on Tuesday it suddenly made sense. She would certainly need to find out more about that little revelation.

"While I will certainly be asking you more on that topic later, did you expect to get anything out of the flirting? Did you actually want something more?"

"I didn't at first, but then I noticed how much you were enjoying it. I suspect it's the secretive nature of our interactions - you find it somewhat _thrilling_.'

It annoyed Hermione that Draco was so dead on with why she had enjoyed their interactions.

"I'm not some secretive thrill chaser, Malfoy." She answered him, not making eye contact.

It was Draco's turn to laugh, he leaned back in the chair as he did so. It was a genuine, hearty sound that Hermione couldn't help but enjoy. He took a sip from his whiskey and fixed her with an amused look.

"My word, Granger! Have you forgotten all the secretive - very much thrill inducing - nonsense you got up to at school? Aiding and abetting a criminal! Brewing a polyjuice potion in Myrtle's bathroom! Sneaking around in the dead of night under an invisibility cloak! You were out and about doing research when there was a creature in the castle looking to kill Muggleborns! Need I go on?"

"That was all for a good cause." Hermione huffed.

She fixed her gave on the view outside the window, determined not to look at Draco's triumphant smirk. She took a similarly determined sip of wine, as she heard him stand and move away from the chair. Her view of the window was impeded by the Draco's arm as it came down beside her, hand resting on the arm of the chair. Her heart was racing as she felt his breath tickle the skin by her ear.

"So you don't find this thrilling? Not even a murmur of excitement, Granger?"

She found it very thrilling, but she seemed unable to find the words to express this. She closed her eyes against the feel of his lips tickling her neck.

"Do you not find this even the slightest bit intoxicating?"

 _She did._ Oh, Merlin but she did.

"Your heart doesn't quicken at the thought of my lips trailing across your skin? An action which we both know would have to remain secret? Because of who we are; because of what we've done."

In that instant Hermione didn't particularly care about why they would have to keep it secret, her heart was racing so fast. Her skin felt like it was on fire with excitement. She turned her head towards his, biting her lip as her nose rested against his. The intoxicating scent that she had come to associate with him filled her senses, erasing all common sense and logic.

Before she could stop herself, Hermione brought her lips to his.

* * *

"Granny! Granny! There's an owl at the window!"

Andromeda popped her head out of her bedroom to see her grandson running down the passage in his dragon themed pyjamas. She frowned, he seemed unusually excited - perhaps it was an owl from Harry.

"Teddy! It's past your bedtime! What are you doing up?"

"I heard tapping on the kitchen window and I went to see. It's from Unc-" he stopped, a guilty look on his face, as if he was about to say something he shouldn't. Andromeda knew that look; it would appear after he almost swore. She saw that look far more than she cared for. "It's pretty and I want to give it treats. Owls like treats."

Andromeda nodded and moved towards the kitchen of their small cottage, Teddy skipped ahead of her. She spotted the owl, a beautiful specimen, and let him in. He immediately fluttered down onto the table near Teddy. The bird seemed to be familiar with him, he gave the boy an almost expectant look. Teddy patted the owl with a friendly "hello" before running to get the bird some treats. Andromeda untied the roll of parchment attached to its leg. It was a note from Hermione.

 _Andromeda,_

 _I would simply love to have Teddy round tomorrow, if he's not already booked with Harry. Say from around nine?_

 _I apologize for the short notice and understand if he can't make it._

 _Send your reply with Aethon._

 _All the best,_

 _Hermione_

 _xx_

 _Ps. Let him bring his broom round. He can have a fly around the backyard if the weather's good._

Teddy had returned with the treats and was feeding them to the owl.

"It's a note from your Aunt Hermione. She wants to know if you'd be interested in going round to hers tomorrow. Take your broom with and go for a spin round the yard. "

Teddy's eyes widened in excitement.

"Oh, Granny! Please can I go! You know I love spending time with Aunt Hermione! I can show her how good I am at flying now!" He started blurring his words slightly, struggling to get them out in his excitement. Without him realizing, his hair had turned a bright green. "UncleHarrysays I might make seeker my first year if I carry on practicing. Aunt Ginny said that Uncle Harrywasbeingsilly. They made an ek… esep…"

"Exception." Andromeda offered the struggling boy.

"Yes! Ex-cep-shun for him when he was at school but I think I couldbea seeker at Hogwarts inmyfirstyear." He finished breathlessly, a smile on his face.

Andromeda looked at her grandson's face and her heart melted. She couldn't say no to that smile. It was a dangerous thing, that smile, he'd used it to good effect many times when he wanted something.

"Fine." Teddy squealed with excitement. "Now you get yourself straight to bed, young one! Or you'll never be awake and ready in time!"

She eyed the owl suspiciously as Teddy ran off to bed. There was something familiar about it but she couldn't quite place it - almost as if she had seen it somewhere before. It definitely wasn't Hermione's; Teddy would have told Andromeda if she had gotten a new owl. It cooed gently as she wrote her reply on the back of Hermione's note, attaching it to her leg when she was done. She sent the owl on its way, its origins niggling at her as she climbed into bed.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/n: Many apologies for the mix up earlier! This is the actual chapter, it took a bit longer than I had expected because I noticed some editing I missed before I submitted. While there is some lemony goodness in this chapter it might not be as much as some readers want. This story isn't a good old fashioned "no plot lemon". As enjoyable as they are, I want to accomplish something else with this story. While I do plan on having some more "grab the wine" scenes, I can't say lemons are central to the story I know this might lose me some readers, but so be it. I wanted to write a Dramione that was mostly lighthearted fun and I hope that's what people will experience when they read this story. As always please R &R, love hearing your views.**

"Bugger!"

Hermione muttered to herself as she quietly crept around Draco's room, searching for her things. _This_ wasn't what she meant when she told herself that "if something happens, it happens". She expected some kissing, heavy petting even, not… well not to be trying to sneak out of Draco Malfoy's bedroom in the wee hours of the morning. She'd never needed to try and sneak out of anyone's room at this time before. She'd never needed to sneak out of _any_ room before. Hermione wondered what on earth had come over her as she silently cursed a stubbed toe.

She squinted around in the dim light, trying to locate her bra. Hermione winced when she saw that it was hanging from the picture above the bed. It turned out that Draco did not have a life size nude of himself in his bedroom. There was, however, a rather rude picture of him that Blaise had drawn in response to the rumor. Hermione pulled on her knickers, which she found in the corner of the room near the chair which had taken a dislike to her toes. Her jumper followed next (her jeans were yet to be found).

 _Merlin, this is ridiculous!_

She climbed onto the bed, trying to be as gentle as possible, and reached up for her bra. She managed to unhook it with a flicking action that resulted in the garment being flung across the room.

"Shit!" she whispered harshly, trying to slide off the bed. Her progress was halted as an arm snaked around her waist. With a small squeak she suddenly found herself beneath Draco. She flushed slightly as she felt the warm skin of his legs against hers. He looked down at her, a look of utter amusement on his face.

"Trying to leave without saying goodbye? How rude, Granger!"

"I wanted to go prepare for Teddy -didn't want to wake you."

Draco looked over to the small wizarding clock on his bedside table.

"At four in the morning?"

"Erm… I have to tidy."

Draco gave an amused chuckle.

"Or you're trying to sneak out, not wanting to stay over because _that's what boyfriends and girlfriends do_. I hardly think that is what you want." He dipped his head down and began to trail kisses along her jawline, speaking between each one. "So why… not enjoy this… for what it… is?"

"What is _this_?" Hermione managed through heavy breaths, "Is this a once off or…"

She was unable to finish her question as a pleasured sigh escaped her lips. Draco paused for a moment, lifting his head to watch her face.

"That's up to you, Granger." A smirk crept over his face as he spoke, "Now, this is just an idea but I do believe you enjoyed yourself enough to consider another round of _escapades_ outside of last night and this morning."

"You believe that, do you?" Hermione's eyebrows rose in amusement at his assumption. He was correct - she had rather enjoyed herself.

"I do, indeed, but should you need more convincing, I'm sure I can arrange something."

Hermione couldn't help chuckle at Malfoy's wiggling eyebrows. It was an unexpected gesture, cheeky, playful, relaxed. It was certainly a side of Draco that Hermione was not used to. At school it had been difficult to see him as anything but the boy he was and after the trials she hadn't thought much of the man he had turned into; not past anything she saw in the papers and magazines that is and Hermione knew full well to take those stories with a pinch of salt.

"I don't believe I have done sufficient research. I'll have to do more in order to make an informed decision on the matter."

"Now who am I to stop 'The Brightest Witch of Our Age' from researching such an _important_ topic?"

Hermione sighed as goosebumps spread over her skin, Draco had lifted her jumper and was peppering kisses along her stomach. She'd been there most of the night, what were one or two more hours now that she had no need to sneak out.

"Where should we begin?" Draco asked, smiling. "Here?"

He ran his finger down Hermione's stomach downwards, causing her breath to hitch when it reached its destination. Hermione bit her lip as he began to lower his body ever so slightly.

"Perhaps a different research methodology?"

Draco brought his lips down and Hermione gasped as she felt their warmth against her. Given that she'd nearly pulled the hair from his head last night, Hermione grabbed at the sheets. For the briefest of moments she feared that she might rip them. A sudden change in the way Draco was moving his tongue saw that she quickly overcame her concern for his bedding. She dug her fingers deeper, every part of her on fire, as he ran his free hand up and down her torso, causing goosebumps to flourish in the wake of his fingers.

The leisurely way in which Draco went about things only added to Hermione's desire, it felt as if he was indulging in her. He seemed to be relishing in her reactions, the sudden gasps, the uncontained whimpers of pleasure, they all seemed to make him determined to take his time and elicit more of the same. Hermione let out a pained whimper as he lifted his lips from her, moving them up her body as he replaced them with his fingers. She arched into his kisses as he worked her to the brink. Before she could stop herself, Hermione had grabbed his hair as he peppered kisses around her sensitive chest. A flick of his thumb made Hermione cry out, as it took her to the very edge of orgasm.

"Merlin, Draco!"

Draco repeated the movement. Hermione cried out his name once more as she felt apart at the motion.

Panting hard, Hermione let go of Draco's hair and brought them up to cover her face as she tried to control her breathing. She felt him shift on the bed and bit her lip as his weight pressed down on her. He continued to gently tease her with his fingers as she looked up into his grey eyes, a look of desire running through them, before noticing the smug smirk that formed on his lips.

"What are you smirking at?"

Hermione tried to sound stern Draco's eyes narrowed slightly before the smug look on his face grew. He didn't answer, instead bringing his lips to hers.

* * *

Hermione turned towards the sound of a knock at her front door. Teddy, who was making himself a fort with some of Hermione's books and other assorted household items, looked up excitedly. Draco was running late and hadn't bothered to send her an explanation as to why. This annoyed Hermione more than she cared to admit. While they had not settled the matter of what was going to be happening between them in the future - they had otherwise occupied - she felt that a small explanation would have nice, all things considered.

"It's about time! You could have sent a damn owl Ma-" Hermione opened the door on a confused looking Ginny. "Oh, hello, Ginny!"

"Expecting someone else?" Ginny raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"Ah, no… I-"

"Is it Uncle Malfoy, Aunt Hermione?"

Hermione closed her eyes and sighed before letting Teddy know it was not Draco but rather Ginny.

"Oh, so we're having _Uncle Malfoy_ over, are we?"

There was a sense of utter amusement in Ginny's tone. Hermione scowled at her and showed her in.

"Aunt Ginny!"

Teddy ran up to the witch, nearly tripping over his own feet, and gave her an enthusiastic and overly complicated handshake before scampering back to his fort. Ginny watched him return, an amused frown on her face.

"Been spending time with Ron and George, I see." Ginny commented before turning her attentions back to her friend, a mischievous glint in her eye."So, my dearest and best of friends, why, oh why, is _Uncle Malfoy_ coming round? For some fun _activities_ , perhaps? It's just so strange because I thought that nothing was happening between you?"

Ginny tapped her finger against her chin in contemplation, making sounds of deliberation as she did so. Hermione knew it was best that she told Ginny the truth about why Draco was visiting. She wasn't quite ready to say what had happened the previous evening and early this morning, but evidently Ginny had already correctly deduced what had happened.

"Well, if you must know, Malfoy offered to take Teddy round on his broom. He organized it for today, down at the grove. Teddy's quite excited about it, aren't you?"

"I brought my fast broom, Aunt Ginny!" Teddy sprung up and practically skipped to a spot behind the couch, nearly sending his fort into disarray, at the mention of brooms. He disappeared for a moment before he popped up and ran, broom in hand, to the witch. "I thought I could race Uncle Malfoy. I might win. I won that race against Uncle Harry, remember Aunt Ginny? Hmmm, but that was against his old Firebolt and there's new models now."

Teddy frowned slightly. Hermione bit her lip, trying not to smile at the boy's obvious concern about how the year model of Draco's broom would affect his chance of winning. His concern disappear as he appeared to have what could only be an exciting idea.

"Maybe you could bring one of your brooms, Aunt Ginny. We could all race!"

Ginny grinned at the young wizard, bringing herself down to eye level with him. Hermione, frowned not liking where this was going.

"Well, young sir," Ginny tapped Teddy on the nose, making him giggle, "you are in luck. There's no practice today and my date with Uncle Harry is only much later. I think I will pop and get my broom but first I need to have a word with your Aunt Hermione. Why don't you finish up with that fort of yours? Just remember to be careful with the books."

"You think it wise to race Malfoy, Gin?"

Ginny waited for Teddy to busy himself with his book fort once more before turning to her friend.

"What harm could come of it? Besides, I think it's high time he's reminded of just how many times Gryffindor beat Slytherin at school."

"As long as you don't get too competitive; Teddy will be watching after all and don't think I'm above telling Andromeda you're to blame for his next broom related injury."

"I won't hurt your boyfriend, if that's what you're saying. He'll be right as rain for later tonight."

"Oh, stop, Ginny!" Hermione gave her a playful shove. "You shouldn't just assume such things!"

Ginny looked over her shoulder at Teddy, checking he was occupied before she lowered her voice.

"Hermione, you're talking to me here, your best friend. I'm not Harry or Ron. I won't go as far as saying I'm his number one fan, but you're an intelligent, grown woman capable of making your own decisions about who you play naked gobstones with."

Hermione's nose scrunched up at the implications of Ginny's metaphor, the red haired witch laughing heartily.

" _Ginny!_ Naked gobstones! Really, now! _"_

"Oh, stop being such a prude! So, before I go, does he have really have a Vipertooth tattooed across his back?"

"Where in Merlin's name did you hear such nonsense?"

"Spella Weekly."

"Why are you reading _that_ rubbish?"

"It was in Ron's pile of loo magazines." She shrugged.

"Why on earth would he have that in his flat?"

"A new girlfriend, perhaps? He's been awfully chipper lately and George says it's got nothing to do with the store."

"Maybe he's been nominated for 'Best Dressed Wizard'?" Hermione offered, causing them both to chuckle. While not a poor dresser, Ron certainly went for comfort above all else.

"Or more likely mum's been sneaking magazines in, trying to get him to read more. You set the bar high by way of mum's expectations for the rest of us; she keeps dropping hints that we all need to _read more_. Well, everyone except _Per-cee_."

"I did no such thing. I read the same amount as I did when I met your mother, any clandestine operations concerning magazines are all Molly and only Molly.

Ginny smiled, shaking her head in amusement.

"Anyway I came round here to borrow a dress for tonight, but that can wait. I'm going to pick up some gear and a broom. When Malfoy gets here tell him to be ready to lose to Gryffindor again." Ginny turned to Teddy and gave him a small wink. "Cheers Ted, see you in a minute."

Teddy's enthusiastic whoop at being able to race drowned out Hermione's sound of protest as Ginny disappeared.

 _This is it,_ Hermione thought to herself, _this is how everyone will find out about Malfoy. One, or both, of them will end up dead and then questions will be asked. Merlin, they'll probably interview Milly._

Hermione sighed, resigning herself to the fact that Ginny and Malfoy would most likely kill each other before the afternoon ended.

* * *

"Morning, Malfoy."

Draco arrived shortly after Ginny had left, apologising for his late arrival but offering no explanation. Teddy had interrupted any attempts at discussing the matter when he ran up to Draco, excitement blazing in his eyes. Hermione greeted Malfoy as he stood, trying to follow the handshake Teddy was giving him. He frowned when Teddy tried to wiggle his fingers at Draco but managed to cut the action short by handing Teddy the broom he had with him. Hermione was certain that Teddy's eyes were going to pop out of his head at the sight of it. In fact, she thought that he might pop entirely from excitement.

"Back to Malfoy, I see." Draco muttered under his breath.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, a _good_ morning, I hope."

Hermione gave his knowing smirk a small sigh of exasperation. She gently took the broom from Teddy, leaning it against the coffee table before gesturing for Draco to come in. He closed the door behind him and Hermione couldn't help herself, sneaking a glimpse of his arse. Teddy stood, eyes glued to the broom, seemingly uninterested in anything the adults around him were doing. Hermione caught him briefly giving his small broom a disappointed look. She moved towards the kitchen as Draco followed, leaning against the counter with a casual ease.

"Listen, Ginny came over unexpectedly and Teddy invited her to race with you and him. She's agreed and has gone to fetch some things. She said to tell you 'be ready to lose to Gryffindor again' or something to that effect." She busied herself, getting out some mugs for drinks. "Would you like some coffee or tea, Malfoy."

When Draco didn't answer she turned to look at him. He was looking off to the side, towards his broom, gaze unfocused.

"Malfoy?"

He snapped out of his daze, a look Hermione found suspicious coming over his features.

"I'll be right back. Teddy, not a finger on that broom till I get back."

Teddy gave him a nod of agreement and Draco disappeared from Hermione's lounge area. She fixed herself a cup of coffee and poured Teddy some orange juice on his request before settling in her favourite chair.

"Well Teddy, it's going to be an eventful morning, wouldn't you say?"

Teddy only murmured his agreement, his eyes still fixed on Draco's broom. He kept his hands close to his chest as though he did not trust himself to not touch it.


End file.
